HC Deb 24 October 1968 vol 770 cc1558-9
1. Mr. Gwilym Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of secondary schools and colleges have computer facilities; what proportion have access to computer facilities; and if he will take steps to encourage the linking of secondary schools and colleges to a central computer.

The Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Mrs. Shirley Williams)

About 10 per cent. of technical colleges have computers and many others have access to computer facilities; detailed information is not available for secondary schools. My Department encourages local education authorities, in planning computer provision at colleges, to bear in mind other educational needs which these facilities might meet.

Mr. Roberts

Does my hon. Friend not agree, however, that there is a tendency for colleges to install computers and to get access to computers rather haphazardly, which may mean that they do not have the machines for the development of their courses? Does she not accept that the need is to provide central processing with terminal facilities in colleges and schools and—

Mr. Speaker

Order. Long questions mean fewer questions.

Mr. Roberts

Would my hon. Friend see whether some help can be obtained from Post Office data processing?

Mrs. Williams

We have a number of experiments going. For example, there is an experiment in the remote use of the university computer which is going ahead in Wales with Schools Council assistance. Similarly, there are experiments in the use of computers in technical colleges. But I remind my hon. Friend that we must be clear about the demand. At present about 100 technical colleges offer facilities for computer study. The difficulty is that we are not getting people from industry to fill the student places available.