Schools continue to invest in IT

Primary schools have an average of 7.7 pupils per computer

Primary schools have continued to invest heavily in IT this year, with a total spend of £644m in 2008-09, an increase of some £40m on the year before, according to a report by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA).

Primary school ICT budgets are estimated to increase by 8.4 per cent in the next year, while secondary school budgets indicate growth of 5.1 per cent. But many schools still do not have a learning platform, according to Ray Barker, director at BESA.

"One of the key findings of the BESA research is that many schools still do not have a learning platform, or are not using them properly, despite the fact that the government 2010 deadline for learning platforms in all schools is nearing," he said.

"While provision has increased from previous years, more than 40 per cent of primary schools and 32 per cent of secondary schools consider themselves under-equipped."

Only a fifth of secondary schools considered themselves to be well-equipped with a virtual learning environment, while only 40 per cent of primary schools are satisfied with their learning platform.

The investment in IT is expected to increase because of the government's £45bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme which focuses heavily on technology.

Fifty-two per cent of primary schools indicated that they are well-equipped with desktop computers, compared to sixty per cent of secondary schools.

For laptop computers, schools continue to feel under-equipped with only 29 per cent of primary and 27 per cent of secondary schools suggesting that they are well-equipped.

This compares to 60 per cent of primary and 46 per cent of secondary schools being well-equipped with internet access and broadband connectivity.

Provision of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) has improved significantly over the past few years. A quarter of primary schools indicated being well-equipped with IWBs in 2005. This figure has increased to 72 per cent in 2008. In 2005 only 18 per cent of secondary schools indicated being well-equipped with IWBs. This has now risen to 43 per cent.

There is an average of 7.7 pupils per computer in primary schools, down from 8.8 pupils per computer in 2004. In secondary schools there is an average 4.3 pupils per computer, down from 5.3 in 2004.