ET - ISSUE 2175 Wednesday 9 May 2001 Computers 'are not raising school standards'
By Liz Lightfoot, Education Correspondent

SPENDING more money on computers for schools has failed to raise education standards, Ofsted reported yesterday. Information technology remains one of the worst taught subjects, though it is improving, inspectors said. They found little evidence that computers were improving teaching in other subjects, largely because staff were not sufficiently trained.

The Government has made computers in schools a high priority, spending nearly £1 billion since 1998. Ofsted, which is monitoring the scheme, concluded: "The implementation of the Government's initiatives has contributed to recent improvements in pupils' information technology capability.

"Standards of achievement in IT capability, however, remain lower than in most other national curriculum subjects and continue to vary widely." There was some evidence linking high standards to good computer provision.

But inspectors added: "The contribution to the raising of standards in individual subjects remains variable and is more marked in some than in others." Computer suites in larger primary schools had led to an improvement in teaching and pupils' mastery of the equipment.

In secondary schools, however, computers were mainly used for IT courses and were not being made available to teachers of other subjects. Teachers were making "slow progress" because they had to train in their spare time. Only a few had finished the courses.

Tiny Computers has donated £250,000 worth of software for families in socially deprived areas.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001