Kent schools outsource IT

Kent County Council has signed off a £29m outsourcing contract for Northgate Information Solutions to provide IT managed services to 11 schools in the area.

The contract will run for seven years and may be extended to a further 25 schools.

The move is part of a £600m project to refurbish, rebuild and transform the 11 schools into modern education institutions and a significant part of the contract with Northgate will be to deliver an online managed learning environment. This application will serve as a hub for students to deliver coursework to teachers from home or school, ready for marking.

The hub will also serve as a school management and administration tool, keeping track of student attendance and exam results. This information will also be made available to parents.

In addition to this, Northgate will also manage the schools' desktops, laptops, networked projectors, interactive whiteboards and handheld devices as well as a full wireless network for each site.

In a statement, Kent Building Schools for the Future programme director Grahame Ward said: "By equipping our schools with state-of-the-art ICT facilities, we will not only improve the business of education through more efficient school management process, greater collaboration and the sharing of resources, but also raise attainment and transform the educational opportunities available to young people."

A spokesman for Northgate said the project will start in a couple of months.