Children 'must have home PC access'

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Home computers should be seen as just as vital to a child's studies as a pencil case or calculator, Schools Minister Jim Knight said.

He confirmed plans for all parents to receive "real time" online reports about their children's work and behaviour at school.

Speaking at a trade show in London, Mr Knight said he wanted all children to be able to use a computer at home, regardless of their family circumstances.

"We have to find a way to make access universal, or else it's not fair," he said. "More than a million children - and their families - have no access to a computer in the home. Children can use them at school and most parents can get online at work, but that's not the same.

"I see some tough negotiations ahead with some of the big providers. But they have a lot to gain too - potentially it will be millions more customers for them. I don't see why the Government shouldn't be able to get technology at a good price for low income families."

The Government is in talks with IT firms including PC World and Dell in a pilot project to widen access to home computers in 50 schools across Birmingham, Worcestershire, Stockton and Brent.

Mr Knight said electronic reports in "real time" would be more effective in getting parents involved in their children's education than traditional annual written reports or letters home. "If families are going to be involved in their children's education really effectively, they need a good two way flow of information," he said.

"All these plans which depend on technology risk widening the gap between the have and the have-nots unless we can make the technology available to all. The so-called 'digital divide' cannot be allowed to reinforce social and academic divisions."

All secondary schools in England will be expected to have "real-time" reporting systems up and running by 2010. Primary schools will follow two years later.