Poorest households to get IT access

The government will provide poorer families with recycled PCs as part of a £400 million package announced last week. David Blunkett, secretary of state for education and employment, revealed low income families would be eligible for the computers from as little as £5 per month. The plan to provide access to IT training for every community in Britain will include a network of computer centres and low price laptops for teachers. In a separate statement, Blunkett said the divide between "haves and have nots" had to be overcome when it came to IT. The department of education was unable to divulge to The Register what was classed as "poor", commenting it was "too early to give that kind of detail." But it did say the investment was part of the cash injection into IT promised last week in the Budget. Much of the investment will go to inner cities. Mr Blunkett said: "It will match the modernisation now taking place in the United States. It will raise standards in schools, develop lifelong learning and improve employability." ®