IT'S amazing in this day and age I that computing is not on the school curriculum," the Minister for Commerce, Science and Technology, Pat Rabbitte, told delegates at the Educational Studies Association of Ireland conference.

The strength of a school in information technology is too often down to individual teachers, he added. "As computers become essential to almost all aspects of our daily lives, the need to introduce children to their use at primary level is all too apparent."

Rabbitte said that, as highlighted recently in the Science and Technology White Paper, the driving forces behind innovation in Ireland, on which future and growth will depend, are science and technology.

"Such education does not begin and end in the universities, nor the regional technical colleges, but rather starts in schools and at home."

Marie Moynihan, human resources development manager with Intel Ireland, told the conference that there is a great need for education to join industry in understanding the rapidly changing technology sector, and to develop curriculums suited to the needs of industry and students.

Technology teacher Den is Bates told the conference, held at Mater Dei College, Dublin, that the junior cycle subject, technology, is about to undergo its first major review by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.