Becta to appoint IT partners for education change project

Tendering process will be accelerated

Becta is working to respond to socio-technical change in education

Government agency Becta is to recruit technology partners to support the delivery of its education change programme.

Becta’s programme, dubbed Fit For The Future, is intended to identify opportunities and challenges that technology will present for the education and skills sectors over the next few years.

The programme, to run until summer 2011, will see the agency work with leaders, practitioners and the technology industry to develop practical solutions that will respond to ongoing socio-technical changes.

IT partners will be asked to provide services over the period between June 2010 to March 2011 to design and deliver three or four technology-enabled programmes within school settings.

They may be delivered via a combination of technology providers, schools and local authorities.

The propositions build on key trends identified in the programme Beyond Current Horizons, funded by the Department of Children, Schools and Families. They include remote learning, innovation and technology skills as well as making the most of data.

Following the issue of a contract notice, a supplier day will be held around May or June. According to a prior information note published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the tender will go through the accelerated route.