Lack of funds forcing schools to put IT plans on hold

But suppliers body BESA says funding situation is not as bad as schools think

The majority of schools in the UK feel that they are definitely unable, or unlikely to be able, to carry out planned IT implementations over 2011/12.

Research commissioned by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) showed that 56 per cent of primary schools and 65 per cent of secondary schools say that they do not have enough in their budget to maintain planned investments.

However, according to the BESA, they should not allow this to prevent them from investing in cutting-edge technologies.

Ray Barker, director at BESA, argued that the research shows that some schools do not understand the new school funding system. There is now a centralised pot of money and the era of ring-fenced grants for ICT is over.

"Schools have a perception that they don't have money now, because it's a very different system.

"Some schools have got even more money, while others have less, and this is because there are no ring-fenced grants coming, as they did under the previous government."

He added that schools can still provide leading technology for students if they think very carefully about their finances and the purposes for which they are buying technology.