A former Largs Academy teacher has questioned the move to purchase Kindles for school pupils at a time of severe budget cuts.

Conservative councillor Tom Marshall told the 'News' he was surprised that the Scottish Government could spend �30,000 on a pilot programme to introduce Kindles to Irvine Royal Academy, with the eventul plan to roll it out across North Ayrshire.

The Kindle programme is a pilot one financed by the Scottish Government's Public Library Excellence Fund. This is being piloted with a view to rolling it out to other schools. Meanwhile, over �640,000 has been spent overall on the computer tablets, and other gadgets for pupils in schools throughout North Ayrshire.

Cllr. Marshall said: "One is surprised when North Ayrshire Council is about to consider cuts to its existing education budget. Is this a good way to spend the taxpayers money? There are pros and cons for such electronic hardware - just as when I was a mathematics teacher there were pros and cons for allowing early year pupils to use calculators before they had a firm grasp of numeracy.

However the majority SNP group at NAC argue that the Kindle programme will actually save money in the long run due to printed materials being cut back. Councillor Tony Gurney, Cabinet Member for Education said: "The importance of computer technology in modern education is widely accepted and we are absolutely committed to investing in our children's future.

"Earlier this year, the council agreed to a significant investment in ICT equipment across our schools, libraries, museums and community learning programmes. In schools this investment includes, PCs, laptops, iPads, iMacs, smartboards and projectors."