English schools IT-ready, says teaching union

22:00 12th December 2008

Schools in England are well-placed to provide IT teaching, says a leading teachers' union.

Deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) Martin Johnson was responding to Sir Jim Rose's Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum.

Contrary to Sir Jim's findings, Mr Johnson said that English schools are kitted out with many of the latest innovations in technology.

He claimed that the standard of IT provision in schools throughout England was among the best in the world and although primary schools were not quite as IT-literate as secondary schools, they were well-prepared.

Mr Johnson said: "Internationally speaking, English schools are probably the best, or certainly amongst the best equipped in the world and the teachers are amongst the most ICT ready."

A Becta report, published in November 2008, found that 77 per cent of school IT co-ordinators felt that the teachers they worked with were very or quite confident when it came to ICT.