Education and Skills written question – answered at on 12 September 2005.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether her Department has strategies for improving media literacy in (a) school education, (b) further and higher education and (c) adult education; and if she will make a statement.
There is a range of activity across the Department to support aspects of media literacy. It does not exist as a separate subject in the national curriculum but, as part of a wide ranging and comprehensive English curriculum, pupils should study the language of media to develop their critical faculties. Media literacy can also be part of the approach to teaching and learning in any subject and has particular relevance in History and Citizenship.
The Department's e-Strategy Harnessing Technology: Transforming Learning and Children's Services," supports the use of ICT, e-learning, Virtual Learning Environments, the internet, gaming, videoconferencing, the use of web cams and digital photography. The system-wide priorities and sector specific actions in this strategy will help provide the infrastructure to support media literacy. A copy of the strategy can be accessed at: www.dfes.gsi.gov.uk/publications/e-strategy
Programmes of study in higher education are a matter for individual institutions to determine and develop.
Under the Communications Act 2003 OFCOM (the independent regulator for the UK communications industries) has a statutory duty to promote better media literacy. As part of this activity OFCOM has been working with the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and its partners, including the Department, in Adult Learners' Week during May 2005, in which the promotion of media literacy was a central theme.
We will be seeking to work closely with DCMS and OFCOM to ensure that media literacy gains the appropriate focus in education.
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