Teacher techno-phobia must be resolved

13:19 15th October 2008

Techno-phobia amongst teachers must be addressed if IT is to continue to play a key role in education, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has suggested.

The NUT claimed that while IT was of great benefit to educational establishments and its pupils, teachers must be adequately trained with the latest technology being used in schools.

A recent report by the British Educational Suppliers Association revealed that schools are expected to allocate a total of £644 million for IT in 2008, which is a forecasted increase of £40 million on 2007.

In addition, the government is currently embarking on the Building Schools for the Future programme, which aims to increase IT spending in schools to £1.29 billion annually by 2012.

A spokeswoman for the NUT said: "It is imperative to combat anxieties amongst teachers who are worried about not being up to speed with the latest packages."

The NUT is a trade union for school teachers in England and Wales and currently has around 300,000 members.