A raft of online learning materials will start be available to teachers from September when two ambitious initiatives are launched.

The resources will be created under Curriculum Online, the pound;50 million Department for Education and Skills (DFES) initiative, along with the BBC’s “digital curriculum” for the UK’s four education systems, paid for by licence fees.

The BBC is part of a partnership forged by the DFES with the educational software industry. Ministers hope the deal will see all parties working together to ensure schools can choose from a range of high-quality content from both public and private providers.

Under Curriculum Online, each school in England will be able to access “e-learning credits” expected to be worth about pound;5,000 for secondary schools and between pound;1,000 and pound;2,000 for primaries.

The funds will let them select from a new website showcasing the materials.

It has not yet been decided who will run the portal, due for a September launch, which will also feature the BBC’s offerings assuming the Department for Media, Culture and Sport gives its expected seal of approval to the broadcaster’s plans.

The BBC has agreed to commission half its materials from the private sector for its pound;150 million, five-year venture, to meet software publishers’ fears that many firms would otherwise be forced out of business.

The British Educational Suppliers Association welcomed the Curriculum Online announcement. Its director general, Dominic Savage, said it assured schools and the industry that the Government saw online learning as a priority and was committed to funding the necessary content for schools.

He said the private sector would remain the biggest investor in online resources and called on the Government to guarantee funding for e-learning credits beyond the 2002-3 school year.

However, Lewis Bronze of Espresso Education, which delivers broadband curriculum materials to schools, questioned the lack of detail about BBC’s role and said it must not be allowed to dominate the market.

The former BBC Blue Peter producer said Lord Puttnam, chairman of the General Teaching Council who attended a Curriculum Online briefing with schools minister Baroness Ashton, had been promising that Britain would be the new Hollywood for educational services. “Unless the Government comes clean about the role of the BBC, it will be creating a Hammer horror film, as private investment will not flow if the BBC is allowed to dominate the market,” Bronze said.

RM, another strong BBC critic, also welcomed Curriculum Online, although chief executive Richard Girling called for checks and balances to ensure materials were of high quality.

Doug Brown, head of the National Grid for Learning, said the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority would be part of an advisory panel to evaluate the online materials and ensure resources were available for all subjects.

Education secretary Estelle Morris said the new materials would help teachers plan lessons and spend more time actually teaching, as well as let pupils work at their own speed.

The National Union of Teachers expressed concern about the lack of consultation with teachers and said they must be as involved as possible in the development of a digital curriculum. “It is vital that the online materials have currency with teachers,“the union said.

Curriculum Online resources will be available outside schools to anyone with Internet access.

Meanwhile, the DFES has decided to abandon plans to create educational resources for digital television.

The decision can be seen as a victory for Besa and the industry, which had lobbied the DFES to re-run the tender process, open only to broadcast companies, after it became apparent that materials would be available online and not through digital TV.

The BBC said its materials would become increasingly interactive as more schools get broadband Internet connections. Mr Brown said schools would use materials on internal networks at first, but move to online as broadband became more available.

Lord Puttnam, , stressed that broadband and training for teachers were just as important as content creation. “We need all three if it is to work,” he said.