Nobody is entirely sure about the possible effects of the so-called "Millennium Bug" on computers. There are all manner of scare stories about systems crashing around the globe as the clocks click over to midnight on January 1, 2000.

Increasingly, sceptical voices are being raised, challenging the predictions of impending disaster. But in truth, nobody can be certain. Most companies are playing safe and having their systems checked and upgraded to enable them to recognise "2000" as a year and keep on working. It is costing some of them quite a lot of money.

Having the necessary work done to guarantee that computers won't crash is expensive. Bradford schools are about to find out just how expensive. The Council has estimated that between them they could face a £2 million bill to go into battle against the bug and keep their computer systems operating.

Even shared between all the district's schools, that is going to take a substantial sum out of their already stretched individual budgets. The Council has said that it will provide advice to the schools, many of which have quite elderly computer systems. However, it will be up to schools to pay for any necessary modifications.

This seems an unwelcome new burden on both the schools and the local authority. The Government has launched an initiative to increase the use of computers in schools and wants them to be linked to the Internet. It is surely its responsibility to provide at least the lion's share of the cash to ensure that, come the Millennium, schools will have computers that still work.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.