A Year Ago: Blunkett talks money at BETT

Secretary of State for Education and Employment, David Blunkett, was at pains today to stress the extra funding that the government is investing in IT for schools.

"We're allocating £230 million for teacher training over the next four years. We promised in opposition we would do so and I'm pleased to confirm this morning that reality is about to start. Ensuring that the whole of our teaching force have the skills and confidence and ability, to be able to relate the potential to what is actually happening

day to day in the classroom. IT will for hundreds of thousands of teachers mean in-service programmes - to which the private and public sector can assist us in delivering." said Blunkett.

Further funds will be allocated to the National Grid For Learning, the first elements of which went live on World Wide Web today."It will (the teacher training initiative) be linked to the National Grid for Learning - and £100 million has been allocated to that. It will be part of a wider program costing £300 million from the Opportunities Fund of the Lottery, which will work in Library's to be able to access and to offer new communications potential to the neighbourhood and the community that we live in, so we can break down the danger of the haves and the have nots...We're going to invest £50 million in a database so that we can access museum, library, and art galleries...it is an opportunity to bring alive for the many what was previously only the prerogative of the few"