Computer education

Press, 4 August 1987, Page 16

Computer education

Sir,—Recent broadcasts almost suggest we lead the world in using information technology in education. In a recent Labour Party broadcast two children working at computers give way to a succession of Ministers, apparently in a computer store. Then comes an Education Department advertisement for trainee teachers. Two wondering youngsters watch as a glittering technopolis rises across the river. The message in both is that education is on the move. New technology is being put to work to provide skills. Is this the education system we all know (and some love)? In reality, few computers would have been deployed in schools without enormous voluntary effort. The record should be put straight The video makers (essentially State education) owe an enormous debt to fund-raising parents and the unpaid time of pioneering teachers. A pity these groups do not also have $lOO,OOO to promote their own, very real, commitment on television. — Yours, etc., PIP FORER. July 28, 1987.