Schools must still pay for IT
The lesson for tech providers is that clever financing will help schools keep spending through 2011
As with much of the rest of the public sector, the education market is still coming to terms with the most radical change in its funding environment for 15 years. What will the public sector cuts mean for their ICT spend? However, I believe that it is really the case that some IT providers are going to continue to thrive in this new environment if they can provide the right solutions.
Following the formation of the new government, the education sector was hit in quick succession by two bolts from the blue. First, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) was abolished and then, in a decision that had a more damaging impact, the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme was scrapped.
This left schools less certain than ever how much funding they might receive and what kind of investments the government really wants them to make in ICT. The only certainty was that, regardless of pre-election noises, cash was going to be incredibly tight and capital investment tighter still.
Schools still want more IT
The schools themselves also realise that they can no longer put off making decisions. What is clear to schools is that their need for computers and other ICT infrastructure is actually still growing. Meanwhile, the funding gap is widening, creating opportunities for some ICT vendors to engage more closely with head teachers and bursars to boost their sales.
You might argue that education was spared the worst of the spending review. School budgets, including teaching salaries and equipment, will rise 0.1 per cent over the next three years. The Department for Education’s budget will fall overall from £58.4bn this year to £57.2bn by 2014 -- sweeping cuts will have to be made elsewhere in the DfE to make the necessary savings to fund school budgets.
Yet school ICT budgets have continually expanded since Labour’s 2001 education policy started to support concepts such as ‘one-to-one’ learning and ‘a device for every student’. The involvement of IT in the way we live, work and learn has undoubtedly continued to grow exponentially since then, and so needs to be reflected in a modernised education curriculum.
As the recession hit, this growth began to falter and that has already taken a dramatic toll on IT in the education sector. According to the September report of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), ICT budgets may fall 14 per cent next year to £502.4 million, from a peak in 2008 of £586 million.
Yet schools also estimated in the BESA report that they would need a further 3.2 million computers before the end of December to fully implement their IT development plans for 2010, a total they expect to miss by 730,000 computers. That equates to a shortage of around 25 computers per primary school and 62 computers per secondary school.
Schools need 840,000 computers in 2011
The shortage of computers in schools is anticipated to increase further in 2011 to 840,000 units.
BESA also reported that 57 per cent of primary and 59 per cent of secondary schools feel they do not have enough higher-end laptops. Forty-two per cent of primary and 36 per cent of secondary schools said they don’t even have enough desktops.
Of all school desktops, a fifth are estimated to be over five years old. Fifteen per cent of all laptops were said to be over five years old. That means huge volumes of redundant ICT equipment that need replacing.
An estimated 365,000 computers are considered too old or the wrong spec for teaching the curriculum. Resellers need to find ways to help schools finance the needed purchases, which are considerable even if schools are just to keep the wheels turning.
Vendors could provide finance as part of their sales package, helping IT providers close more sales.
Schools’ requirements for ICT are here to stay, meaning that despite budget cuts there are still incredible sales opportunities in the education sector if you can turn the threat into an opportunity.
It is also worth saying that technology providers that are the fastest to adapt will surely enjoy a clear edge on their competitors. A few more nimble ICT vendors have already worked out how they are going to survive in this harsher environment. They will provide schools and colleges with the innovative funding solutions they need, now that the schools’ capital expenditure budgets have been so badly damaged
Philip White is chief executive officer of Syscap