Computers in schools are obsolete for next generation

Many schools and colleges are not renewing their computer equipment fast enough according to a report from Becta, the government computer agency for education systems.

The organisation's annual review reveals that in schools an increasing amount of IT equipment is over three years old and in colleges it can be even older.

This situation is unlikely to change in the short term. This year's report said in schools it "appears highly unlikely that all stock will be replaced before it exceeds the commonly accepted target three-year life span".

Colleges were "much less likely" than the year before to be replacing computers on a three-year cycle - and of those that were, about half were still using older Pentium I and II machines.

The reasons behind the ageing PCs depend greatly on the type of educational establishment involved. For many schools, although there are more computers for pupils than ever before, they don't have a replacement policy to deal with obsolete equipment.

Due to the growing number of students attending further education, colleges on the other hand are struggling to stretch their budget to meet the demands of buying the extra equipment they need.

There is also a big difference in the use of ICT in the primary and secondary school sectors. Overall it appears that the primary sector is finding it easier to integrate standard classroom teaching practice with technology than the secondary sector.

However, the secondary sector is more ready to support the development of online learning and generate related online information for parents and pupils.