§ 10. Mr. Bob Blizzard (Waveney)What progress has been made with increasing the amount of information technology in schools since 1997. [64405]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Ivan Lewis)ICT in schools has increased significantly since 1998. The 2001 survey showed that the proportion of schools connected to the internet had grown from 28 to 97 per cent. The ratio of computers to pupils in primary schools had improved from 1:18 to 1:12, and in secondaries from 1:9 to 1:7.
§ Mr. BlizzardMay I welcome the huge increase in the number of computers in schools? However, the software requires licences. Is my hon. Friend aware that, although Microsoft will sell a site licence to a college or 388 university—for example, Lowestoft college pays it £7,000 a year—Microsoft will not sell site licences to schools? Therefore, Kirkley high school in my constituency now pays £15,000 a year in licence fees. Does my hon. Friend agree that Microsoft is unfairly hoovering money out of schools and that it is no use producing glossies with children on the front if it is charging schools too much? Will he look into the matter?
§ Mr. LewisMy hon. Friend makes an important point, and I give him the commitment that I will look into the issue. I do not want to condemn Microsoft until I have all the facts available to me—that would not be a particularly good idea! When I have the information, I shall get back to my hon. Friend.