It has become quite clear that the BECTa Managed Services, which were intended to take care of all schools’ technical support needs, hasn’t taken off. What is really needed is on-site assistance for teachers in the classroom in addition to whatever hardware and software support is provided by suppliers or LEAs. Even within a managed service contract there is still a need to have someone in the school who can effectively liaise with the supplier and deal with all those time-wasting and seemingly trivial equipment problems that crop up in the classroom every day.

ACITT’s model suggests a proper career structure for technical support assistants in schools within a set of nationally agreed job descriptions and salary scales. The ACITT document distributed at BETT, and reproduced here, describes a range of jobs in primary and secondary schools from junior non-technical posts right up to network managers of large networks in large schools. The principle adopted is that the more difficult the job becomes and the more complex the tasks that have to be performed, then the higher the rate of pay. For the lowest paid post, the tasks are essentially non-technical but nevertheless essential, such as adjusting monitor settings and checking mouse balls ready for a class. Generally speaking, the more knowledge and experience required of networks and networking then the more senior the post. In most cases, the jobs described often fall within the remit of an ICT Co-ordinator but take away valuable time that would otherwise be used to promote higher standards in the curriculum.

Calluna UK produced some interesting research at BETT that showed just how much teaching and non-teaching time is spent by ICT co-ordinators and other teachers on low-level but essential tasks each week. The main problem for schools however is that this time spent does not have a monetary value. If teachers don’t do these things then the school doesn’t save money that can be used to employ a technician. Of course, more time can be spent on teaching and thus ultimately produce better standards of attainment, but these outcomes are not measured in financial terms.

What the ACITT document hasn’t done is to match the tasks and duties described at each level to the skills and qualifications that would be required of people employed in these positions. Fortunately, due to the Minister’s announcement at BETT, the DfEE (and now the DfES) has convened a working group to draw up a skills and qualifications matrix that can be set alongside the job specifications. This will give practical guidance to schools wishing to recruit to technical support positions, and will give an indication to those looking for employment of the added opportunities in the school sector as a result of obtaining the specified qualifications.

Currently there are not thousands of unemployed ICT technicians. It will take some years before schools can expect to draw upon a well trained and qualified workforce matched to their needs. However there may well be those who would welcome the chance of school work because they only want to work in term time, or if they want to live and work locally rather than commute to city centres. There may be those who are already qualified and perhaps have never considered working in a school, and there may be others who could easily acquire some qualifications from the wide range of those available.

One of the good things to come out of this work is the construction and drawing together of a framework which schools can subscribe to, with clearly documented job descriptions, salary scales, person specifications and relevant qualifications. It’s not quite clear yet where the money will come from. Schools who already have technicians are paying for them out of their existing resources. Some schools may decide to share a technician (although this is not nearly as good as having someone on site all the time) while some schools may combine the technician role with other jobs that need doing around the school.

During the past year, ACITT has been working hard to progress this issue in order to improve the situation in schools on behalf of its members who have enough to deal with in the drive on standards and who have been distracted from this task now for far too long.