Schools shy of 2010 deadline

In demand: Both primary and secondary schools want more laptops and desktops

More than a third of UK state schools feel under equipped with learning platform technology, a study by trade association British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) has found.

BESA’s 11th annual ICT in UK State Schools report by C3 Education surveyed 764 primary and 562 secondary schools online to highlight trends as IT plans and technologies are rolled out for the academic year.

Ray Barker, BESA director, said the government has mandated learning platform deployments for every school by 2010, but BESA’s report found that 40 per cent of primary and 32 per cent of secondary schools are under equipped.

“Many schools still do not have a learning platform or are not using them properly,” Barker said.

The report found that about 40 per cent of primary schools are poorly equipped with virtual learning environments (VLEs), and one-fifth of the opinion that VLEs are irrelevant.

However, only six per cent of secondary schools believe VLEs are irrelevant, and half believe they need to invest in the technology.

The report also predicted a steady rise in technology spending at both primary and secondary schools.
Primary school budgets are anticipated to be £15,850 in 2009-2010, up 6.2 per cent on 2008-2009. Secondary school spend will hit £68,000, up four per cent on the year before.

“Spend on ICT from school budgets is estimated to be around £672m in 2009-2010 ­ excluding curriculum software,” the report said.

“Demand for laptops has [also] remained strong, with nearly a third of schools having extensive requirement for 2009.”
Primary schools are set to buy 124,700 more desktops by April 2009, double that of the previous year , and 127,300 more laptops. Secondary schools are tipped to buy 180,000 desktops and 75,000 laptops, with unit redundancy rates increasing.

Seventy-two per cent of primary and 43 per cent of secondary schools indicated they had enough interactive whiteboards (IWBs).

Graham Wylie, marketing director at Steljes, welcomed the research results. “It also found educators are more confident in using technology,” he said. “And that means opportunities for the channel.”

Dave Kelly, EMEA vice president at Meru Networks, which has supplied 802.11n wireless technology to several schools, said more emphasis is being put on IT for schools.

“The important factor for teachers is they want IT to work for them and their students,” he said.