Why old-fashioned books haven't reached the final chapter

He says English and the humanities in general must not be swept away by new technologies that command more and more of our children's time.

"I am aware, as everybody has to be, that there's more competition for one's attention nowadays. The printed word is no longer as in demand as when I was of the age of pupils or even at the age of teachers teaching them.

"We live in a world of technology, with the moving image taking precedence in many children's lives over the printed page. I think that's to the detriment (of the children)." Sir Tom, the writer of such modern classics as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Thing and Jumpers, voiced his concerns ahead of an address he is to make to a summer school run for teachers by the Prince's Teaching Institute. He says he's not making a case for "good and bad", but fears that a drive to put science-based subjects first will sideline the teaching and love of English and subjects like history and geography.

Is he right to be so exercised? Nick Seaton, of the York-based Campaign for Real Education, thinks so. "Teachers tell me that text books are being used less and less, in favour of worksheets and material viewed on a computer screen. Teaching methods involve more and more technology, and the study of IT as a subject in itself from a young age means there's a double whammy.

"Together with the fact that the curriculum is also cluttered by subjects like citizenship and PSCE and more emphasis has been put on improving science teaching in recent years, humanities have suffered. Often, they are lumped together through an approach to teaching that means history, geography and RE are included in exploration of one topic. Young people know a little of each, but are master of nothing."

Sir Tom says that the value of such subjects cannot be measured as quantatively as science or maths, but their power to enrich a human being is crucial.

Sonia Benster, of The Children's Bookshop in Huddersfield, doesn't see any particular signs that children are less enthusiastic about reading – although the powerful fashion for reading created by JK Rowling's Harry Potter books has subsided.

"Even in a difficult economy, with the book trade not exactly buoyant, I'm not unduly worried about how much children seem to be reading. Although children readily embrace new technology, I don't believe that the tactile magic of a printed book will ever be properly replaced. I've seen no particular fall-off in sales, and sales of books for very young children are good. There's a place for technology in promoting reading, and however you are reading it, the power of language and literature to feed the imagination and help a child to understand the world will always be there."

Among Benster's customers are many grandparents, who provide childcare for grandchildren and see the enormous value of reading as a quiet and thoughtful activity that provides a calming contrast to children's often hyped-up lives.

"Reading provides bonding time, the building of rapport and the child enjoying the undivided attention of an adult," says Benster. "If a grandparent or parent is genuinely enthralled by a story it will always infect the child."

At the last count, done by the charity Booktrust in 2009, more children were enjoying reading than in the previous year, although reading drops off as children get to secondary school age. But still, it's worrying that 56 per cent of parents or carers of four to five-year-olds said their child spent more time at a computer or watching dvds than reading. One in 20 UK households owns fewer than 10 books, but families with girls are likely to have 10 more books than those with boys.

"Tom Stoppard is someone who genuinely cares about reading and literature and the possible effects of technology," says Viv Bird, chief executive of Booktrust. "But I feel more relaxed about it. We should embrace technology and its ability to interact with the written word.

"I think there is a lack of confidence among some teachers to make the best use of technology to promote reading and talking about the written word. We should enjoy technology's ability to take us closer to books and authors, but we will never completely

move away from physically exploring a book."

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