PfS scrapes a pass for handling schools programme

The body overseeing the Building Schools for the Future programme has just scraped a pass for its handling of new secondary schools schemes.

A new survey released by Building, released for today’s Education Now event, found that just over a half of experts questioned gave the body a pass or top marks for its handling of the ambitious schools rebuilding programme.

Respondents agreed on three key improvements needed to be made to the BSF: more focus on design; better procurement; and more education of clients.

The survey was held this month and last amongst those that have registered for Education Now, a free-to-attend online event dedicated to offering the latest content and information on the schools and further and higher education markets.

Other key results included:

• Nearly four out of five respondent expect their share of education work to rise in 2009
• Three quarters of respondents believe the Government will not reach its target of modernising every secondary school by 2020. And the same proportion believed that there was not enough front-end planning for ICT and sustainability in the BSF programme
• Recession – Two thirds of respondents believed the recession would impact on the education sector

The survey was sponsored by manufacturer Schuco.