§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the steps he has taken to date, and the further steps which he intends to take, to implement paragraphs 20, 22 and 27, respectively, of the Report of the Inter-departmental Working Group entitled Computer Education.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThere is a steady increase in computer-oriented courses in schools. The provision of equipment for schools is the responsibility of the local education authorities. Computers are being provided in technical colleges after taking account of the schools' needs. We have approved the purchase by some colleges of education of simple equipment for teaching computer methods and are ready to consider proposals for further purchases. The Department organised last year four courses for teachers responsible for systems analyst courses in colleges of further education and these will be repeated this year, together with three short courses in computer education (one for secondary school teachers, two for teachers in further education). Arrangements have been made for some thirty experienced teachers of computer subjects to spend short periods this year with large-scale computer users. It is already common practice for technical colleges to enlist the support of industry in staffing computer courses of a specialised nature.