Teachers need more training in ICT, BESA report finds

57 per cent of primary and 61 per cent secondary teachers have said training teachers in all areas of ICT is their key ICT challenge over the next 12 months.

The report from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) also found that 51 per cent of primary school teachers, and 49 per cent of secondary school teachers are seen to require training in e-safety issues.

What’s more, 51 per cent of primary school teachers are seen to need training in using assessment solutions.

The report found that training requirements in the use of digital content is expanding in primary schools and has increased from 39 per cent in 2015 to 43 per cent in 2016.

It also found that on average, primary school pupils spend 53.7 per cent of their time engaging with ICT in the classroom, as do 55.5 per cent of secondary school pupils.

Caroline Wright, Director General, BESA said: CPD: “EdTech has tremendous transformative potential to drive up standards of education in classrooms globally. And with UK pupils now spending over 50 per cent of classroom time engaging with ICT, it is imperative that teachers are able to get the training that they need in order to best utilise digital resources. Not least at a time when, regrettably, budgets are tightening.”

The report also found that concerns around the security of data is the main barrier preventing schools from moving to cloud-based solutions, the report found.

In addition, the average ICT budget for a primary school is forecast to be £13,800 in 2017/18 and £58,230 for secondaries. This is a year-on-year decline of -4 per cent and -7 per cent respectively.

BESA’s research also finds that more than half of primaries do not have adequate broadband. Only 44 per cent of primary ICT leaders said their schools were “currently well resourced” with broadband, compared with 97 per cent of secondary schools.