January 07 2000 Wills: ready for constant change

As learning and technology minister, Michael Wills realises the importance of ICT to the future health of Britain as it bids to keep pace with a changing world. Chris Johnston reports

Extracts from this report from the TES site:-

Wills, 47, has had a few months to settle into his role as the DFEE's learning and technology minister since he was appointed on July 29, following Charles Clarke's move to the Home Office. Officially the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (he had the same title for six months at the Department of Trade and Industry), he is responsible for the department's policy on information and communications technology (ICT), particularly the National Grid for Learning and University for Industry. . . . .

Working across the DFEE, covering schools, lifelong learning and the employment service, Wills says that anything with an ICT dimension crosses his desk. . . . .

Wills says that about 90 per cent of jobs in Britain will soon have some sort of interaction with ICT and that we need a technology-literate workforce to compete on the world stage. "The development of creative interactive multimedia is going to be a huge global industry, and we have all the skills and talents in this country not just to be a world leader, but the world leader if we get it right. As a government we see this as a huge prize worth winning and our job is to make sure we are successful." . . . .

Yet as well as underpinning the UK's economic prosperity, Wills is adamant that ICT should be used to enrich the learning experience. "We know that these technologies can enhance learning - there is a lot of work that shows it motivates pupils and helps with discipline problems. That's why we're putting the money in." However, he stresses that the technology must help to raise standards across the board; otherwise the very significant funding will be wasted. . . . .

Asked what he sees as the priorities for the future, he returns to familiar themes: "We've got to make sure that schools are properly equipped and we're well on the way to doing that; we have to make sure that as far as possible a digital divide does not open up in this country; we have to make sure that ICT use in the classroom is fully integrated with the standards agenda so that we can use these new technologies to the full; and we have to make sure they are fully exploited to give everybody access to lifelong learning."

Wills has a difficult job; after all he is coping with an ever-changing playing field and trying to place Britain at the forefront of the cyber race. "As a government we've got to be proactive, as well as flexible and responsive and quick to respond to these challenges - change is constant at the moment. "