Funding is the first lesson in IT

A few months ago, the PM announced that, working with BT, the government had devised a scheme that would put a PC in every classroom in the country by 2003. Blair also said that classes would have unlimited access to the internet and the cost would be about #1 per pupil, per year - about #700 per school.

This raises some key issues, and earlier this month the education authorities realised one of the most important of them - who is going to pay for the running of all these computers? Like businesses, schools are having to worry about TCO now. They have budgets to keep. Before we move on to that particular question, let's just take a look at some of the other matters this initiative raises.

First, let's just say this has to be a positive move. Anything that can help get kids more IT-literate as they come out of school has to be a good thing. We have a frightening skills shortage that needs to be addressed.

But is this enough? 2003 is only five years away. And how much altruism and vested interest is there in BT's thinking?

By 2003, all the kids who are 11 now - just starting their secondary education - will have moved on. When will we see any benefit? Not until 2008 by my estimate, and that's 10 years away. We have a skills shortage now. And anyway, one PC per classroom is not enough.

But back to the issue raised earlier. It's been calculated it may cost schools more than #700 to run the PCs - about #40 per pupil per year.

Who is going to pay for this? The taxpayer? The parents? Bill Gates? Well, maybe.

Whoever picks up the bill, there looks to be real opportunity. If the funding is there, a major new sector in PC services could develop as schools and authorities start to put support contracts for the classroom out to tender. That may be, but how ethical would it be to make money from the education of our children in this way? What is a reasonable profit to take for hitting the SLA levels required by a group of 13-year-old secondary school pupils? And we still need to know who's paying.

My suspicion is that, in the end, it will be big business and the IT industry. We can already see it happening. BT has done a deal with the UK government that may do some good, but will also put BTNet into every classroom. Gates has met with Blair. How long will we have to wait before some kind of scheme to put MS into the classroom is hatched? With kids coming out of school au-fait with MS products and familiar with BTNet, how will that affect competition in the business world in the next decade?

Our children are our future, it's true. They are the future IT workers but they are also the future users and consumers of IT. We must hope that Gates' well-publicised intentions are genuine. While every parent will acknowledge the need to cater for all children, none can help being concerned about their own - Gates included.

Simon Meredith is a freelance IT journalist.