§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales to what extent computers are being used in schools in Wales which teach through the medium of the Welsh language; if he will list those schools in theOfficial Report; and what proposals he has to finance the making of programmes required in these schools, which would be additional to those from local education authority sources.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsA recent HMI survey, to be published on 18 July, considers the use of computers in Welsh-medium learning in primary and secondary schools in Wales. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House shortly. An associated survey established that all secondary schools and the great majority of primary schools use computers.
Detailed information for individual schools is not currently available, but the Welsh Office is presently carrying out a survey of the use of computers in all schools in Wales. Results will be available later this year.
The Welsh Office has provided support under section 21 of the Education Act 1980 for the production of Welsh-medium software. For 1989–90 applications for grant for this purpose will be co-ordinated by the Micro-Electronics Unit (Wales) to ensure that all local education authorities benefit from the developments. The Micro-Electronics Unit (Wales), which was set up with funding from the eight local education authorities and Welsh Office, also produces software in both Welsh and English.