The new figures in the first table below show that for the UK in 2001 there was an increase in the number of schools connected to the Internet, and also in the number of computers per pupil - from one computer for every 17.6 pupils in primary schools in 1998 to 11.8 currently. In secondary schools there is now one computer for every 7.1 pupils.

UK Leads in Laptops

Virtually all schools are connected to the Internet in the UK, and primary schools have made most progress - with 96 per cent online compared to just 17 per cent four years ago. Almost all secondary schools are now online. All secondary schools in Scotland are connected to the Internet. The UK is one of the countries with the highest number of laptops in Europe.

UK: Key Figures and References

Sources: Insight ICT in Education Policy Country Report, UK, December 2002, European Schoolnet

While almost all schools are now connected, the percentage of computers connected is still uneven and not sufficient in some European countries. In the countries shown here figures range from 90% of computers connected (Finland) to only 44% of Internet connected computers in France. Swedish students have to fight least for an Internet connected computers, where one computer counts for 5 students.

Overview of Schools Connectivity

Moving to a Higher Speed

Not all countries yet have the perfect conditions to give each pupil access to the Internet, but high-speed connections are becoming already a main policy target in some of the countries.

Many national objectives are now addressing the next stage in infrastructure, namely the realisation of faster and higher capacity Internet connections. Ireland focuses on the development of infrastructure in all schools and the introduction of broadband access to the Internet. High-speed access for every classroom shall be ensured by 2002. In the United Kingdom, the government's target regarding high-speed connections is that 20% of schools should have a two megabytes connection by August 2002.

In Norway a programme for broadband Internet access for schools is developed, based on the experiences of the Fiberschool project conducted by UNINETT. Part of the project is to try out different models for connecting Norwegian schools to the Internet using high-speed fibres. In Iceland, too, broadband connections (of at least 100mB) to the Internet for schools in upper secondary and higher education are a priority at the moment.

Improving Existing Networks

The Icelandic government is encouraging municipalities (responsible for compulsory education) to improve existing networks for schools under their responsibility and to provide them with high-speed connections.

The eEurope action plan also foresees 'the creation of a very high speed trans-European network for electronic scientific communications by the end of 2001 linking research institutions and universities, as well as scientific libraries, scientific centres and, progressively, schools'. €80m will be given to upgrade the trans-European capacity to 2.5 Gbit/s.

Finland, Norway and Denmark and to a lesser extend Sweden can be counted to the forerunners of implementing high-speed connections using mostly ADSL connections (see table below). 54,2% of primary and lower secondary schools and 97% of secondary schools are on high bandwidth in Finland. In the Netherlands 18% of the connections are via high-speed cable. Italy and France are testing with satellite. In Slovenia the plan is that by the end of 2002 all schools would have a local network of all computers and fast connection. However, the predominant type of connection across Europe is still ISDN with 72% of connected schools using this.

The figures show that work still has to be done to put the necessary infrastructure in place, and most of all to provide quality access equally for all students. Broadband becomes an issue for policy makers. However, connectivity alone is not sufficient for an effective pedagogical use of ICT.

Other Insight survey results will focus on the driving forces for change in education and its implications for educational actors. Summaries of the country reports will inform about policy development, special issues will explore teacher training, public private partnerships and other eLearning issues. The information will be soon presented on the Insight website and searchable via an online database by country or topic interest.

For more information about Insight, and the Insight ICT in Education Policy Reports contact European Schoolnet's Policy Analyst, Anja Balanskat at anja.balanskat@eun.org

More general information on 'The Development of Broadband Access Platforms in Europe' can be found in a Commission Report published by DG Information Society, available in PDF:
http://www.tiaonline.org/government/EUBroadband.pdf

eEurope Action Plan (in PDF)
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/2002/
news_library/documents/eeurope2005/eeurope2005_en.pdf

Insight Project Information
www.eun.org/eun.org2/goto.cfm?did=11745