HC Deb 16 May 2002 vol 385 c760W
Mr. John Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, (1) pursuant to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department on 23 April 2002,Official Report, column 207W, what her estimate is of the number of History National Curriculum (Key Stages 2 to 5) schools with internet access to the website at http://www.learningcurve.pro.gov.uk/FocusOn/census/; [55911]

(2) pursuant to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department on 23 April 2002, Official Report, column 207W, on census information, what action she has taken to protect the interests of History National Curriculum (Key Stages 2 to 5) pupils and teachers, following the provision of inaccurate information on the website at http://www.learningcurve.pro.gov.uk/FocusOn/census/; and what action has been taken to ensure that recent amendments to the website meet the schools' requirements for information from the Public Record Office. [55912]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

We have supported £657 million of expenditure on ICT by schools between 1998 and 2002, with a further £710 million to follow between 2002 and 2004. This funding is intended to help schools to achieve the objectives agreed with their local education authority and set out in their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development plan. We would expect these plans to address measures for connecting to the internet, so that schools can access the wealth of cultural, scientific and intellectual material to be found on the internet. The percentage of schools with internet connection was published in the Statistics of Education—Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2001; 97 per cent. of schools are connected to the internet.

Producers of educational content are encouraged to link their resources to the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) portal. The sites on the NGfL portal are required to conform to a set of ground rules and a code of conduct. However, it is the responsibility of the site developers to ensure that their content is accurate. As with other forms of information media, the decision on which sites to use lies with schools.