Millions are slashed from Education's ICT budget
SPENDING on ICT in Education has been slashed in the years leading up to the latest serious concerns being raised about how well it is working in schools.
Nearly half of teachers surveyed by the NASUWT union do not believe their students have access to high-quality IT – mirroring an issue that hit the headlines in 2013 and helped lead the following year to significant investment.
In 2014, some £1.3m. was spent on new equipment, but since then that budget dropped to £13,000 the following year and then zero in 2016 and 2017.
The former Education Department also delayed IT projects in 2015, leading to £1m. less being spent in the area that spend is budgeted under – the 2016 figure is not yet available.
'It is important to clarify that IT projects deferred were, on the whole, projects that did not directly impact the activity of pupils or teachers,' said the States' chief information officer Colin Vaudin.
'In terms of equipment provided for use by teachers or pupils, we continue to have a rolling replacement programme and therefore no equipment is more than three years old.'
