- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13134 by Nicol Stephen on 12 March 2001, what the provision is by Scottish Borders Council of internet access in primary and secondary schools and what percentage of staff and secondary school pupils have internet access.
Answer
Provision of Internet access by Scottish Borders Council is shown in the tables:Percentage of schools with Internet access
| | Scottish Borders Council |
Primary schools | 40.8% |
Secondary schools | 100% |
Percentage of secondary teachers and pupils based in schools with internet access
| | Scottish Borders Council |
Secondary teachers | 100% |
Secondary pupils | 100% |
Source: SEED School Census, September 2000.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13134 by Nicol Stephen on 12 March 2001, what the provision is by Scottish Borders Council of (a) primary school e-mail addresses and (b) secondary school e-mail addresses, given as a percentage of staff and secondary school pupils who have internet access.
Answer
Provision of e-mail addresses by Scottish Borders Council is shown in the tables:Teachers and pupils with e-mail addresses - as a percentage of teachers and pupils in all Scottish Borders Council Schools.
| | Primary Schools | Secondary Schools |
Teachers | 19.8% | 73.6% |
Pupils | 12.0% | 63.1% |
All Scottish Borders secondary schools and 40.8% of primary schools have internet access.Teachers and pupils with e-mail addresses - as a percentage of those in Scottish Borders Council primary and secondary schools with internet access.
| | Primary Schools | Secondary Schools |
| Teachers | 38.2% | 73.6% |
| Pupils | 20.3% | 63.1% |
Source: SEED School Census, September 2000.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 20 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the conditions for the award of National Grid for Learning funding allow for local authorities to have computer provision targets which are lower than the national targets of 1 modern computer for every 5 secondary pupils and 1 modern computer for every 7.5 primary pupils by March 2002 and, if so, which local authorities have agreed or are negotiating revised or reduced targets.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16563 on 11 July 2001.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how the treatment of the #416,000 additional funding allocation to Scottish Borders Council complied with paragraph 5 of Circular 5/2000, Pre-Budget Statement - Additional Financial Resources for School, given the #350,000 reduction made by the council to their schools budget earlier this year.
Answer
I am still waiting for Scottish Borders Council to publish their allocations from the £416,000, which was designed to benefit all schools in the Borders.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the projected education overspend at Scottish Borders Council will have on the implementation of the National Grid for Learning in schools across the region.
Answer
The detailed implementation of the National Grid for Learning is the responsibility of individual local authorities, working under a broad framework set out by the Scottish Executive. Scottish Borders Council is considering measures to address the deficit it has identified in its education budget. The Executive expects that the council will do all in its power to continue to provide a high quality of education in local schools and will proceed in a way which has the minimum impact on the education service experienced by pupils.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether awards of National Grid for Learning funding are fully funded by it and, if not, what percentage of an award it funds.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16563.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities can vire monies from their annual National Grid for Learning allocation for other purposes and, if so, on what conditions.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's support to local authorities for the development of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) comes through the Excellence Fund. Local authorities are all committing considerable amounts from their own resources to support NGfL developments. The extent of that contribution is a matter for local decision.
Each authority is entitled to draw its share of the NGfL Excellence Fund programme provided that it has agreed with the Scottish Executive an Improvement Plan setting out how it will work towards the various objectives of the programme, including the target pupil:computer ratios. Money may be vired between Excellence Fund programmes subject to approval by the Scottish Executive.
Money is drawn down twice a year, on certification by council officials that valid expenditure has taken place. Authorities are required to report annually on progress and to notify any significant change from their original Improvement Plans. The Scottish Executive also monitors progress on certain of the NGfL targets though the annual School Census.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of the cancellation of the National Grid for Learning cabling and computer requisition will be on the delivery of courses for pupils in the Scottish Borders.
Answer
I understand that Scottish Borders Council is considering a range of measures to deal with the deficit identified in its education budget. Until this process is complete it will not be possible for the council to state for certain what the impact will be on any specific part of the education programme. The Executive expects that Scottish Borders Council will do everything it can to minimise the effect on pupils' education.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in the Scottish Borders region are to be removed from computer courses and transferred to courses in other departments as a result of the cancellation of the National Grid for Learning cabling and computer requisition.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16559.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the way in which funding given to local authorities under the National Grid for Learning programme is utilised.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16563.
