Government promises safer school surfing

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is ramping up its action to encourage safe internet use by schoolchildren, and help school IT managers make informed decisions about web safety strategy.

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) is conducting a review, to be completed before April, of web filtering, monitoring and detection software.

"We will not be recommending specific software products to schools," said a DfES spokeswoman.

"The purpose of this project is just to outline what each product does so that schools can make informed decisions on which product meets their needs. Software providers will be invited to have their products assessed."

At the same time the DfES has begun a second phase of accreditation for IT services suppliers to the education sector through Becta, including a technical assessment of filtering services for browsing web-based content.

The accreditation will be awarded to suppliers that provide good quality, competitively priced IT goods and services to educational institutions.

"It is important that schools be freed as far as possible from having to worry about the procurement and ongoing management of their IT infrastructure," a DfES spokeswoman told vnunet.com.

"Reducing this burden will allow schools to concentrate on their prime functions of teaching and learning."

But the department downplayed research which debunks the parental myth that schools are the safest places for children to surf the internet.

Nearly nine out of 10 teachers surveyed at a trade show earlier this month said that pupils could access inappropriate content, including adult and bad language sites, from school PCs. The majority felt that schools lacked the systems to prevent such access.

But while addressing the issue is considered a matter of urgency, action is restricted by budget limitations, with most schools relying on filtering services offered by their internet service providers, although many use firewalls or supervision to stop children accessing inappropriate sites.

"This government wants everyone to have access to the wealth of cultural, scientific and intellectual material to be found on the internet," a spokesman said.

"But we are equally determined to ensure that students are protected from unsuitable material and that we all use the equipment we have properly.

"We all share a responsibility to make sure that students' use of the internet is appropriate and safe."

A Becta pilot scheme across 50 schools to encourage children to use the internet safely will be rolled out to all schools by next month.

The Internet Proficiency scheme for Key Stage 2 (ages seven to 11) consists of a teachers' pack and a website.