Vol. 520 No. 5
164 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Education and Science the funding and support available from his Department to primary and secondary schools for computer and IT training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16226/00]
My Department provides funding for the Teaching Skills Initiative – TSI – element of the Schools IT 2000 programme which is delivered through the National Centre for Technology in Education. The programme commenced in 1998 and approximately 40,000 IT training places were filled by primary and second level teachers up to the end of 1999 at a total cost of £6.9 million.
Expenditure of the order of £2 million will arise in continuing the training programme in the current year and the NCTE estimate that more than 10,000 further training places will be filled.
A team of 620 tutors has been put in place to provide the training which is mainly delivered through the education centre network.
