54 per cent of heads believe schools do not take full advantage of technology

A YouGov survey conducted by TES has found that 54 per cent of head teachers believe their school could do more to utilise technology.

The concern is more prevalent among senior leaders, with 51 per cent of assistant heads and 42 per cent of other leaders insisting that not enough is made of ed tech in schools.

Mark Chambers, chief executive of ICT subject association Naace, said: “I’m almost embarrassed to say that I am not surprised. The reason for it is that we are working in a system that is afraid to take risks.”

Chambers added that the roots of this attitude were ‘complex’ but agreed that often technology was not taken seriously in schools, particularly among head teachers.

He said: “When it comes to using technology, there are too many school leaders who proudly profess their allergy to it.”

The survey has arisen after a report from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) and Naace discovered that nearly half of all schools are being forced to slash their ICT budgets.