This study explores the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and the computer-use profile of 1241 school students in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium. More specifically, the article examines whether varying patterns of computer access, attitudes, competencies and uses can be seen as constituting differences in cultural capital. Additionally, gender was included in the survey as an important background characteristic in digital divide research. Path analysis was used to model the complex relationships between the influencing factors upon the ICT-related variables. What emerged from the analyses was that SES affects the computer-use profile only moderately. No relationship between SES and computer ownership was found. Moreover, the acquisition of ICT competencies can no longer be attributed to computer ownership. Apart from a small effect on ICT use (a higher SES tends to be associated with more ICT use), SES does not seem to affect the computer-use profile of young people in Flanders.

Despite the steady decline in the relative cost of acquiring information and communication technology (ICT), the cost of owning and maintaining sustainable computer systems in schools is rising. Simultaneously, Ministries of Education (MoE) in sub-Saharan Africa are under pressure to invest in ICT. However, there is very little evidence upon which decision makers can base their decisions to allocate finances to ICT. This article is based on a survey of total costs of owning computer rooms in 62 schools across Botswana, Namibia and the Seychelles. It reveals that in Botswana and Seychelles, where government provided computer facilities to all post-primary schools, ICT expenditure per school is much higher than in Namibia where school computer facilities are funded from several sources including government, NGO and the community. It is argued that high expenditure is not necessarily associated with efficiency of resource usage, and that internationally benchmarked research is needed in order to support optimal MoE and school level decision making.