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Mr. Clappison: To 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 Clarke: All 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. Clappison: To 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 Clarke: BT, 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. Clappison:
To 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 Clarke:
Information 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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Mr. Clappison:
To 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 Clarke:
Feedback forms on the Standards Site have been available since March 1999. To date,
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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. Clappison:
To 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,
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(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]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Not 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.
(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]
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 | (13)2,700 |
VTC Cymru | 564,330 |
Further Education hub | 679,331 |
Career Development | 652,216 |
Learning Resource Index | 3,083,163 |
(13) Page views per day
Notes:
Unless otherwise indicated, figures are for hits, between November 1998 and July 1999
Mr. Clappison: To 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 Clarke: Around 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. Clappison:
To 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 Clarke:
Latest 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.
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Statistics 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. Clappison:
To 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 Clarke:
This 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. Clappison:
To 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 Clarke:
The 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. Clappison:
To 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 Clarke:
A 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
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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. Clappison:
To 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 Clarke:
The 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.
All targets to date have been fully met and on time.
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.
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