§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools(a) have produced and (b) are preparing development plans in connection with the National Grid for Learning. [93163]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeAll schools seeking grant in relation to the National Grid for Learning are expected to agree with their local education authority a development plan for the use of Information and Communications Technology. Information about the number of schools which have already done so is not held by the Department.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what part BT is playing in the establishment of the National Grid for Learning; and how it is otherwise providing information technology for schools. [93164]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeBT, in common with other companies operating in the telecommunications and ICT industries, has a role to play in making a range of services available to schools and other organisations in order to enable those institutions to make optimum use of the Information Age.
The products and services that BT makes available to schools are a commercial decision and a matter for the company.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the sums allocated by each local authority in respect of the National Grid for Learning; and how much the sums amount to in each authority on(a) a per-pupil and (b) a per-school basis. [92746]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeInformation on the NGfL funding devolved to each school is not held centrally by the Department. However, the total amount of grant allocated to each authority from the National Grid for Learning Standards Fund programme in 1998–99 and 1999–2000 is set out in the tables. LEAs are required to devolve 95 per cent. of their allocation to schools.
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£ LEA name 1998–99 allocation 1999–2000 allocation Total allocation Cambridgeshire 968,886 911,606 1,880,492 Camden 500,000 383,667 883,667 Cheshire 1,272,149 982,500 2,254,649 City of Bristol 763,657 1,229,091 1,992,748 City of Kingston-upon-Hull 540,171 750,000 1,290,171 City of London 0 10,000 10,000 Cornwall 978,576 651,147 1,629,723 Coventry 629,591 1,013,313 1,642,904 Croydon 480,000 343,968 823,968 Cumbria 1,500,000 1,500,000 3,000,000 Darlington 226,541 185,947 412,488 Derby City 417,900 468,667 886,567 Derbyshire 800,000 637,500 1,437,500 Devon 978,576 1,212,754 2,191,330 Doncaster 489,288 338,596 827,884 Dorset 800,000 675,000 1,475,000 Dudley 2,000,000 2,000,000 4,000,000 Durham 1,300,000 2,032,695 3,332,695 Ealing 300,000 371,250 671,250 East Riding of Yorkshire 800,000 637,500 1,437,500 East Sussex 782,861 675,000 1,457,861 Enfield 220,000 273,482 493,482 Essex 1,713,684 1,723,500 3,437,184 Gateshead 431,215 337,500 768,715 Gloucestershire 750,000 586,032 1,336,032 Greenwich 500,000 520,000 1,020,000 Hackney 346,955 444,000 790,955 Halton 311,121 358,131 669,252 Hammersmith and Fulham 300,000 300,000 600,000 Hampshire 2,201,797 1,562,752 3,764,549 Haringey 429,615 358,131 787,746 Harrow 348,208 448,152 796,360 Hartlepool 123,301 195,344 318,645 Havering 424,980 285,202 710,182 Herefordshire 234,858 195,000 429,858 Hertfordshire 1,957,153 1,717,500 3,674,653 Hillingdon 284,766 325,573 610,339 Hounslow 375,000 364,642 739,642 Isle of Wight 219,104 399,921 619,025 Isles of Scilly 10,412 17,400 27,812 Islington 500,000 381,000 881,000 Kensington and Chelsea 351,802 221,883 573,685 Kent 2,240,000 4,200,000 6,440,000 Kingston upon Thames 262,376 206,250 468,626 Kirklees 1,000,000 787,500 1,787,500 Knowsley 1,450,000 612,789 2,062,789 Lambeth 650,000 520,766 1,170,766 Lancashire 2,500,000 1,627,867 4,127,867 Leeds 1,700,000 1,350,000 3,050,000 Leicester City 600,000 455,803 1,055,803 Leicestershire 997,900 900,000 1,897,900 Lewisham 435,377 450,000 885,377 Lincolnshire 978,576 1,887,402 2,865,978 Liverpool 978,576 1,050,000 2,028,576 Luton 374,087 325,573 699,660 Manchester 983,605 1,410,000 2,393,605 Medway Towns 456,300 750,000 1,206,300 Merton 294,293 325,573 619,866 Middlesbrough 300,000 325,573 625,573 Milton Keynes 396,465 325,573 722,038 Newcastle upon Tyne 1,016,000 885,204 1,901,204 Newham 501,347 806,909 1,308,256 Norfolk 1,615,739 1,500,000 3,115,739 North East Lincolnshire 520,000 390,000 910,000 North Lincolnshire 200,000 150,000 350,000 North Somerset 293,573 213,305 506,878 North Tyneside 563,533 669,000 1,232,533 North Yorkshire 969,671 681,230 1,650,901 Northamptonshire 1,500,000 1,125,000 2,625,000 Northumberland 489,288 525,000 1,014,288 Nottingham City 564,834 403,208 968,042 Nottinghamshire 1,406,000 1,302,294 2,708,294
£ LEA name 1998–99 allocation 1999–2000 allocation Total allocation Oldham 570,322 651,147 1,221,469 Oxfordshire 1,200,000 1,050,000 2,250,000 Peterborough 305,240 264,691 569,931 Plymouth 489,288 830,450 1,319,738 Poole 186,987 179,065 366,052 Portsmouth 346,000 357,480 703,480 Reading 210,368 338,585 548,953 Redbridge 493,733 582,470 1,076,203 Redcar and Cleveland 507,395 545,733 1,053,128 Richmond upon Thames 160,792 259,800 420,592 Rochdale 442,813 354,000 796,813 Rotherham 587,146 390,688 977,834 Rutland 56,412 74,095 130,507 Salford 547,274 520,917 1,068,191 Sandwell 405,882 366,270 772,152 Sefton 587,146 813,934 1,401,080 Sheffield 1,200,000 900,000 2,100,000 Shropshire 672,000 622,035 1,294,035 Slough 176,454 284,000 460,454 Solihull 460,000 299,528 759,528 Somerset 978,576 2,200,000 3,178,576 South Gloucestershire 533,455 453,849 987,304 South Tyneside 364,477 488,360 852,837 Southampton 500,000 292,500 792,500 Southend-on-Sea 0 300,161 300,161 Southwark 600,020 624,981 1,225,001 St. Helens 700,000 546,536 1,246,536 Staffordshire 2,500,000 3,300,000 5,500,000 Stockport 1,000,000 851,651 1,851,651 Stockton-on-Tees 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 Stoke-on-Trent 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 Suffolk 1,454,693 975,000 2,429,693 Sunderland 587,146 390,688 977,834 Surrey 2,000,000 2,250,000' 4,250,000 Sutton 241,484 337,437 578,921 Tameside 400,000 300,000 700,000 Telford and Wrekin 341,942 1,950,000 2,291,942 Thamesdown (Swindon) 322,792 227,901 550,693 Thurrock 224,640 205,111 429,751 Torbay 214,987 262,500 477,487 Tower Hamlets 400,000 450,000 850,000 Trafford 500,000 525,000 1,025,000 Wakefield 1,000,000 750,000 1,750,000 Walsall 559,690 511,801 1,071,491 Waltham Forest 391,431 450,000 841,431 Wandsworth 291,558 454,553 746,111 Warrington 401,364 465,000 866,364 Warwickshire 1,016,252 1,122,141 2,138,393 West Berkshire 307,488 260,459 567,947 West Sussex 1,000,000 750,000 1,750,000 Westminster 241,604 258,750 500,354 Wigan 685,947 675,000 1,360,947 Wiltshire 489,288 716,262 1,205,550 Windsor and Maidenhead 268,168 300,000 568,168 Wirral 671,532 468,826 1,140,358 Wokingham 316,656 212,925 529,581 Wolverhampton 556,915 432,245 980,160 Worcestershire 1,125,048 900,000 2,025,048 York 300,000 260,459 560,549 Total 102,009,845 105,000,002 207,009,847
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many teachers have submitted comments to the Standards Site of the National Grid for Learning. [92742]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeFeedback forms on the Standards Site have been available since March 1999. To date,176W 237 forms have been returned. The site also has a discussion forum, within which teachers can, from day to day, debate issues raised by the standards agenda.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many visits have been paid to(a) the Standards Site, (b) the Virtual Teacher Centre, (c) the Governor Centre, (d) the Parent Centre, 177W (e) the Special Educational Needs Centre, (f) the National Year of Reading, (g) the Northern Ireland Network for Education, (h) the Scottish Virtual Teachers Centre and (i) the VTC Cymru of the schools section of the National Grid for Learning; [92743]
(2) how many visits have been paid to (a) the further education section, (b) the higher education section, (c) the lifelong learning section, (d) the career development section, (e) the libraries section, (f) the museums and galleries section, (g) the community grids section, (h) the international networks section, (i) the Government and Agencies section and (j) the learning resource index of the National Grid for Learning. [92744]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeNot all of this information is held centrally by the Department. Many of the sites are hosted remotely, by a wide range of public sector bodies and commercial companies, both in this country and internationally. Total hits between November 1998 and July 1999 on the NGfL server are 43,067,816. Around 13,000 pages are hosted locally, with about 240,000 pages being indexed as part of the NGfL across all of the sites.
Figures which are available are as follows:
Site Number of hits Standards site 13,379,688 Virtual Teacher Centre 16,060,495 Governor Centre 89,366 Parents Centre 236,844 Special Educational Needs Centre 145,747 The National Year of Reading 533,000 Scottish VTC 12,700 VTC Cymru 564,330 Further Education hub 679,331 Career Development 652,216 Learning Resource Index 3,083,163 1 Page views per day Notes:
Unless otherwise indicated, figures are for hits, between November 1998 and July 1999
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many comments have been received from teachers via e-mail to the Web Keeper of the Virtual Teacher Centre. [92741]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeAround 25 messages a week are received by the Virtual Teacher Centre (VTC) Web Keeper.
In addition to this, conferencing activity on the VTC sees around 80,000 hits per month, with an average of 1,000 contributions made.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many(a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) universities, (d) colleges and (e) libraries are connected to the National Grid for Learning; and how many he estimates will be connected by the end of 1999. [92739]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeLatest estimates indicate that 51 per cent. of primary schools and 90 per cent. of secondary schools and 100 per cent. of universities are connected to the Internet. An April 1999 survey suggested that 100 per cent. of colleges of further education had internet access.
178WStatistics collected late in 1997 found that 5 per cent. of public library service points offered public Internet access. The Library and Information Commission is currently compiling updated statistics, as part of the development of the Public Library ICT Network which will link all public libraries, where practicable, to the NGfl by 2002.
While targets for connection by the end of 1999 have not been set, our aim is that all schools, colleges, universities, libraries and as many community centres as possible should be online and able to benefit from access the National Grid for Learning by 2002. To achieve this target we are supporting over £700 million of ICT-related expenditure in UK schools over this period.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the impact made by the National Grid for Learning on equipment purchasing by(a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools. [93181]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThis information is not yet available from this year's survey of ICT in schools. The Government anticipate that the impact of its £657 million Standards Fund programme for the NGfL up to 2002 will be substantial, as will arrangements which they have announced this month for the availability of higher quality managed ICT services to schools at competitive prices.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research he has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the views of teachers on the National Grid for Learning. [92740]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe overall implementation of the National Grid for Learning, including school's purchasing strategies, is subject to a rigorous programme of independent evaluation. This also focuses on the Grid's impact on classroom practice and on students' achievements. Interim findings form these studies should be available early in 2000.
The British Educational Communications and Technology agency, on behalf of the DfEE, is also carrying out evaluation of the classroom application of the Grid via the Multimedia Portables for Teachers project. Teachers are currently participating in curriculum groups, which provide feedback on the Grid's curriculum materials and identify any gaps in that provision.
These activities are in addition to Ofsted's evaluation of the impact of ICT on teaching and learning.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the cost of the National Grid for Learning; and what projections he has made of future costs. [92745]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeA total figure encompassing investment by the Government, Local Authorities, commercial companies, education institutions, libraries, community and other NGfL-related projects is not held centrally by the Department. However, over £700 million will be allocated for schools' purchase of ICT networking and infrastructure by the year 2002. Additional funding for teacher and librarian training, content development and the equipping of libraries and related projects takes investment in this initiative to £1.6 billion. This funding 179W will enable all schools to be connected to the Grid by 2002, and will provide them with online access to a wide range of educational and managerial resources.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the timetable for the development of the National Grid for Learning. [92738]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe timetable for the development of the National Grid for Learning is as follows
- Autumn 1998—opening of NGfL content framework, call for content and NGfL Challenge.
- January 1999—deadline for initial expressions of interest in managed services.
- Early 1999—major NGfL content upgrade for education and lifelong learning professionals.
- April 1999—deadline for proposals for Managed Services.
- Spring 1999—New Opportunities Fund support for teacher and librarian training begins.
- Summer 1999—approval of managed services for schools, libraries and other bodies.
- 1999–2000—launch of interactive learning facilities for school age learners.
- end 2002—achievement of targets as set out in the National Grid for Learning Challenge.
All targets to date have been fully met and on time.