TBH, I would agree with the education system pushing for iPads and Macbooks as learning resources. They're easily restricted to perform certain functions or use certain features, and overall, it could reduce the amount of waste from books growing old and such. If the education system pushes for an Apple-themed learning environment, there would be a higher sale in iPads as an educational resource. You can carry an iPad and a notebook/binder around, or you can carry around bricks on a daily basis. Textbooks and assignments don't take up a lot of space TBH, and assignments can be done online or through an app to be submitted electronically.
But the one downside I would say to this equation would be the abuse of it. Since you can't exactly restrict the sites that the students go to while "studying" unless you set up filters in their ISP gateways, they'll be "studying" and switching back to their movies or games whenever their parents walk away. If the education system takes the incentive to push for this, I think it'll go pretty far. You don't have to push for iPad 4's or iPad Minis with 64/128GB, you can push for iPad 2's with 8GB. A nice amount of space for work and some recreation in the mix.
I think this is already under debate for the past 2 years or so for lower education (K-5/8). Some high schools already have this incentive with Macbooks and laptops. Colleges have long incorporated this as part of their learning resource.
