Free Money To Learn About Computers

Here’s an interesting initiative from the Scottish Executive:

Every adult in Scotland is being offered up to £100 to develop and improve their computer skills.

Deputy Minister for Lifelong Learning Allan Wilson said: “ILA Scotland has already opened up opportunities for thousands of people on lower incomes who previously would have faced financial barriers to learning. From today, the practical support of ILA Scotland is extended to all adults in Scotland. We have chosen information and communications technology (ICT) training for the universal offer because learner research showed us that even where people might consider themselves to have basic ICT skills, relatively few have any formal qualifications as proof of their expertise.”

I think I know of someone in need of the £100 grant - the Deputy Minister for Lifelong Learning himself! His website is a frankly terrifying example of mid-90s eye-scorching ‘design’, complete with a deranged Java applet that displays three-dimensional mirror-finished rotating text. Yikes.

Sniping aside, it is unclear how far the pot of money set aside for providing these grants will go, and I suspect unscrupulous types will be launching crappy courses for a fee of precisely £100, or upping existing fees. That said, this should go some way to encourage technophobes in the direction of computers, which is a good thing.

Posted at 4pm on 02/08/05 by Jack Mottram to the news, technology category.
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