HC Deb 06 April 1981 vol 2 cc675-6
11. Mr. Neale

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if, to encourage awareness of industrial needs in schools, he will ensure that schools are eligible for industrial research assistance sponsored by his Department.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

The Department, working closely with the education departments, supports a variety of projects aimed at improving the attitudes of young people to manufacturing industry and their awareness of new technology. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced today the Department's scheme to assist local education authorities to provide a microcomputer in every secondary school in the country by the end of 1982. This important scheme, which is specifically designed for the education sector, is a more appropriate form of support for schools than the Department's industrial research and development schemes.

Mr. Neale

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his part in that welcome initiative. Can he enlarge on the practical effects that it will have for schools?

Mr. Baker

The Department of Industry is making money available for hardware for secondary schools. Our object is to have at least one microcomputer in every secondary school by the end of 1982. They will be British. The British companies concerned are Acorn and Research Machines, one in Oxford and one in Cambridge. There is no doubt that the younger generation wants to work microcomputers, particularly those attached to television screens. Evidence shows that there is a considerable improvement in basic learning curves when that happens. It is a step for the future and should be welcomed by all.

Mr. Spearing

As the Department and the Prime Minister have seen fit to recognise this new information tool, will the hon. Gentleman give equal recognition to production by ensuring that every secondary school has a sufficient supply of basic machine tools used in production?

Mr. Baker

I shall certainly consider what the hon. Gentleman says, but, as the Minister for Industry and Information Technology, I was particularly concerned to make a start in this direction with microcomputers, which can be used for production processes. We saw a demonstration this morning of some schoolchildren using a microcomputer to drive a small engine.

Mr. Greenway

I welcome the initiative announced today concerning the provision of computers in schools, but may I remind my hon. Friend that the pressure on these computers will be enormous and they will probably be available only for children in fifth and sixth years? Will he bear in mind that the more widely computers can be made available to children in lower years, the more likely we are to get our children turned into the boffins that we need for the future?

Mr. Baker

I hope that the computers will be available not only lower down, but across the curriculum, rather than only in maths and science labs, so that every child who leaves school at 15 or 16 will be aware of how microcomputers work, what can be put into them and what can be got out of them. That is the objective of the scheme.

Mr. Eastham

In view of the Minister's desire to improve the liaison between schools and industry with sophisticated equipment, would it not be a good idea for him to try to persuade the Department of Trade to give a firm decision on imperial measurements, as against metrication, because the present situation is causing great confusion?

Mr. Baker

That is a much wider question which should be directed to another Minister.