Assistants are way to the future

Education secretary Estelle Morris unveiled a vision of the future in English schools last week in which classroom assistants have a crucial role to play - alongside high-tech equipment such as palmtops, laptops, plasma screens and electronic whiteboards. Ms Morris has made a string of speeches in recent months referring to plans to enhance the classroom assistant's role, although the Department for Education and Skills has repeatedly insisted that pay and conditions are a matter for local authorities to determine. Speaking at the BETT exhibition of educational information and communication technology (ICT) at London's Olympia, she said, 'I see the...