Schools minister Jim Knight announced this week that
school reports will be produced electronically.
All secondary schools will be expected to have "real-time"
reporting systems up and running by 2010, and all primary schools
two years later.
Knight, speaking at the BETT
education technology show, urged schools to use computers and
mobile phones to "break down barriers" between teachers and "hard
to reach" parents from deprived areas or ethnic minority
groups.
Real time reporting, Knight said, will mean parents will be able
to access frequently updated information on children's progress
using secure online systems.
The government's schools ICT agency,
BECTA, will be advising head teachers on how to exploit their
technology.
Knight pledged £30m for low income families to help them gain
access to internet and computer technology at home.
But teaching unions expressed concern about the effects the
policy may have on teachers' workloads.
The National Union of Teachers said in a statement, "Jim Knight
has to be far more specific about his goals for real time reporting
to parents. We will treat this aspiration with caution. There has
to be the hard evidence from a pilot scheme which includes the
effects on teachers' workload before we can accept claims that real
time reporting is workload neutral. Until a proper pilot,
independently evaluated, happens he cannot claim that there will be
no increase in workload".
The Professional Association of Teachers added, "There are also
complex data security issues to be addressed in allowing access to
school systems, particularly in light of recent losses of
government-held data."