Many schools will ask students to bring their own smartphones, tablets and laptops from home as a federal government program which gave every student in years 9 to 12 access to a computer expires at the end of this month.

A report commissioned by the Gillard government found rapid advances in technology and growth in students owning their own smartphones and tablets, combined with their declining cost, supported schools introducing a ‘‘bring your own device’’ policy.

While this would ease pressure on schools faced with replacing the government-supplied computers it does raise equity issues for disadvantaged students.

The $2.4 billion ‘‘digital education revolution’’ was a key plank of Labor’s 2007 election pitch.Federal budget papers say the promised 1:1 computer to student ratio was achieved nationally, with more than 967,000 computers installed in secondary schools, exceeding the national target of 786,000.