Schools must invest more in IT facilities

18:30 27th November 2008

Education is bereft of IT training even though young people surround themselves with gadgets and IT software at home, reports the Guardian.

Children have the latest phones and games consoles and know their way round a computer like the back of their hand but when they enter the school building there is a distinct lack of IT presence.

Chris Gerry, head of New Line Learning Academies, told the newspaper: "Schools have to reflect the technologies of the time. If children have lots of technology in their bedrooms, and they come to school and find it's a technology desert, they'll begin to wonder why they came."

However, there is a lack of agreement on the types of information technology that should be made available in the classroom, and more crucially, how any roll-out will be funded.

A report by the British Educational Suppliers Association has revealed that just seven per cent of IT professionals working in secondary schools felt that teachers were confident in their understanding and use of IT.