Microsoft and consulting company Capita have today announced a new partnership to roll-out over 20,000 Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ laptops to Northern Ireland's teachers.
Capita was awarded a new six-month contract for €24m with Northern Ireland's Education Authority (EA), through funding provided by the Department of Education, to supply the new laptops.
The first laptops are currently being rolled out in a series of pilot programmes at three schools in Northern Ireland and Capita is set to deliver the majority of the laptops by the end of June.
The new laptops are to be issued to all statutory nursery, primary school, EOTAS centre, special school and post primary teachers in Northern Ireland.
They will be used to support student learning and teacher professional development.
Anne Sheehan, General Manager of Microsoft Ireland, said this marks the first significant milestone in the Education Authority’s strategy to transform the lives of teachers and students over the next decade by implementing a versatile and innovative cloud first education service.
"We are very proud to have partnered with Capita to deliver this digital transformation project, which will fundamentally change and enhance the way digital learning is delivered across 20,000 schools in Northern Ireland," Ms Sheehan said.
"We hope to empower educators to test and trial new ways of teaching and interacting with students, while shaping resilient and future-ready students who will have the digital skills to become the next generation of innovators and digital leaders," she added.
Costi Karayannis, Capita's Managing Director and Client Partner for Education and Learning, said the new devices will enhance the classroom learning experience for students and enable teachers to continue their professional development.
Sara Long, chief executive of the Education Authority, said that today is an exciting moment for EA as it starts the rollout of new teaching devices for all of its statutory schools.
"We want to provide the best possible services and support to help our children and young people be the best that they can be, and to achieve this, we must make sure that schools have access to state-of-the-art technology and innovative, high quality teaching solutions," Ms Long added.
