§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what assistance her Department has made available to(a) local assistance authorities, (b) individual schools within the local education authority system and (c) grant-maintained schools to enable them to obtain the necessary computer hardware and software to have access to the Internet. [32860]
§ Mrs. GillanThe Department provides support for information technology in schools through grants for education support and training and in the case of grant-maintained schools through special purpose grant (development). These initiatives have enabled the provision of substantial numbers of computers which could be connected to the Internet. It is, however, for individual schools to decide whether to invest in such connections. A number of pilot projects are exploring the educational value of the Internet and the National Council for Educational Technology has published guidance on the Internet for schools.