Becta and school ICT: end of the line for the gravy train?

[russdev]

Just seen this at Computer World UK a post about BECTA and its future.

Becta and School ICT: end of the line for the gravy train?

It's raining and I'm in Coventry. Unsurprisingly the time of year lends itself to epitaphs.

Coventry, once a proud industrial city was bombed flat during the Second World War, now it is home to a race of 'quangocrats' once powerful Government employees who have now been exiled from London for crimes we do not know.

Becta and school ICT: end of the line for the gravy train? - Community - ComputerworldUK

[localzuk]

That article, it has to be said, is pretty negative. It brushes over the finer details of Becta's achievements with some glossy-eyed 'big picture' ideals - ignoring the fact that the big picture, as always, is made up of lots of smaller ones.

It is also very wrong in one aspect - that the school IT technician will suddenly be disappearing within a few years. This is a silly concept, as all that is happening is that the job is evolving, like all jobs do, into one which is more specialised. No more will schools have a person who sits doing network design, procurement, implementation and also installing toner cartridges, switching things on etc... No, the role is specialising as it did in industry.

Becta has done a great job, making IT into a strategically important educational tool, rather than an ad-hoc hodge-podge of bizarre gadgetry that some teacher saw in a show somewhere.

But their success is also their downfall - doing this has meant that it is a lot easier for businesses to step in and take over the reigns, with some general guidance being provided by the DCSF.

[torledo]

isn't it the case though that those who get shunted off one gravy train, look to get themselves onto another one....

anyway, parts of that article highlight what i was saying in another thread about the 'investment' that has gone into ICT in schools. The words they use to describe the spending on ICT in the late 90's, what was it ? haphazard. quite right. It all seemed a bit desperate to me, like someone was trying a bit hard to impress.......like they're doing now with the latest give a computer away scheme.

Trouble is, the govt. funded ICT gravy train just kept getting a fillup every few years. - because the money was there...and now we are at a point where some tough decisions have to be made....because the money just won't be there in the same way as before. What i don't think is condusive is to rebrand something that the new adminsitratoin doesn't like....

and if the tories are gunning for becta then who or what if anything replaces it. Another quango or two ?

as for the MCSE technician in schools. That never really existed did it ?

[tech_guy]

I object to Coventry and surrounding areas being described as "the industrial wastelands of the Midlands" and the overall negative attitude of the article. Becta has done a brilliant job over the years.

[russdev]

I thought few of you might have something to say about it