§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the reasons for the difference between primary and secondary schools in the contribution made to teaching by microcomputers; and what plans he has to improve the situation in secondary schools.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe 1985 survey of microcomputers in schools found that a higher proportion of primary heads than of secondary heads reported that microcomputers had made a significant contribution to teaching in their schools. This may reflect differences in the content and delivery of the curriculum as between the two phases—making the potential contribution more readily grasped in the primary context — and it may also reflect the practical circumstances which obtained at the time of the survey. The potential contribution in secondary schools is being increasingly widely recognised and the Government see no reason of principle to suppose that the potential is less in secondary schools than primary.