An additional 12 percent, in 1997-98, planned to offer distance learning courses in the next three years.

CNN: fyi.com - Study: Public higher education embracing virtual classrooms

Government-supported initiatives such as UK NetYear and the planned National Grid for Learning have focused on the process of connecting schools to the Internet and providing online materials, rather than on setting lower-rate or free access.

BBC: News | Education | Threat to US schools' Internet subsidy

The warning comes after the Pre-School Learning Alliance condemned the planned changes at a conference on childcare.

BBC: Childcare ratios 'could hit nurseries in poor areas'