The government’s multibillionpound Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme is in danger of squandering the opportunity to transform secondary education, experts are warning.
The programme, which includes construction of buildings and new IT, is expected to be worth some £40bn over 10 to 15 years and is the fastest growing area of public sector IT spending.
But because local authorities are being encouraged to run the procurement as a single project, IT innovation is suffering, says Gary Clawson, chief executive of regional education group the North West Grid for Learning.
‘The advice to roll the procurements together is to cut cost, but then the project is driven by the larger building contract so it becomes less about innovation and more about the delivery of equipment,’ said Clawson.
‘Innovation comes from thinking about how to exploit IT in delivering the curriculum, not about delivering equipment. One contract might be easier to manage, but BSF is not about being easy, it is about having the most impact on education,’ he said.
Building contractors are less likely to involve smaller firms with specialist knowledge, says education expert Steve Molyneux. ‘With this procurement agenda schools will be lumbered with big contracts who understand building, but not education or IT,’ he said.
‘Technology needs to be separated from the contracts both in terms of project management and developing partnerships for future innovation.’
Technology suppliers are voicing similar concerns. In evidence to the Commons Education Committee last week, trade group Intellect said: ‘Unless changes are made there is a significant risk that only a limited number of suppliers will participate and schools will receive lowest common denominator IT.’
A spokeswoman for Partnerships for Schools, which runs BSF, says technology choice is central to the programme.
‘There is a local choice fund so schools can specify what they want and nominate their preferred supplier,’ she said.
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