Almost half of teachers involved in a pilot initiative to develop coding courses for Junior Certificate students say that a lack of resources is the most significant challenge they face in establishing the subject in their school.
A further 29% identified timetabling restrictions as the most significant difficulty for schools.
The findings are contained in a review of the pilot scheme published today.
It says some teachers contacted wrote lists of resources which they felt would improve student's learning, while others who complained about resourcing issues simply wrote one word; 'Wi-Fi'.
Forty-nine second level schools nationally have been piloting 'short courses' in coding. Short courses are being introduced as part of the new Junior Cycle curriculum.
A short course is the equivalent of half of a main subject in terms of both hours dedicated to it, and marks awarded.
An interim review of the Junior Cycle Coding in Action initiative quoted teachers who said their struggle was with "broken and old PCs", "no book/materials available", and "Laptop issues - windows, flash updates etc".
Others expressed a desire to purchase new equipment for their students but said a lack of funding to buy equipment was their greatest challenge.
The report also made positive findings. Asked about what was the most significant success of the introduction of coding was, 53% of teachers identified 'student interest or engagement'.
The pilot will now be extended to a second phase, from next September, which will give more schools access to training to enable teachers to develop short courses in coding.
