§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what instruction on the acquisition of technological and information technology skills are given to primary school teachers in their training. [43585]
§ John HealeyBefore any trainee teacher, including trainee primary school teachers, can be awarded qualified teacher status they must demonstrate that they are competent in the use of ICT, both to teach their subject and to support their wider professional role.
Serving teachers in maintained schools have, since 1998, had an entitlement to undertake ICT training funded by the New Opportunities Fund. This is designed to bring them to the same level of competence and confidence in the use of ICT in the classroom as their counterparts now entering the profession.
The Government are now drawing up plans for further training in the use of ICT to support teachers' continuing professional development. A pilot scheme will be run in selected schools from April 2002.