Blair launches National Grid for Learning

The prime minister of this country has announced that £700 million is to be invested in hardware and software as the government honours its election pledge to create a National Grid for Learning. Due to be spent over the next three years, the cash will be used primarily to supply schools with the necessary hardware to link them to the Internet and ensure that the nation's children become "computer literate". Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme this morning, the Education Secretary, David Blunkett, said that a further £230 million had been set aside to train teachers to use the new technology. Only one out of every five teachers is currently trained to use the Internet, he said. Chris Yapp of ICL, who advised the government on the National Grid for Learning and is responsible for coining the phrase, welcomed the cash injection but said that it wasn't enough. He also predicted that more and more companies would enter the education market enticed by the government's spending plans. ® Click for more stories Click for story index