Ramesys returns with school portal deal

Education reseller Ramesys has bounced back from its recent troubles with Microsoft over counterfeit software to secure a three-year contract to provide 16 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) with an education portal.

The contract was awarded by the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) consortium, which represents 16 LEAs including Cornwall, Devon and North Somerset.

Ramesys is responsible for hosting and maintaining the website, and ensuring that it is populated with up-to-date content which is relevant to the national curriculum.

"There is a balance we need to strike here," said Steve Smith, business development director at Ramesys.

"The technology and some of the commercially available content we can update ourselves, but there's also the opportunity for teachers and pupils to pool resources and share new ideas."

However, LEAs need to consider the problem of internet access for the programme to succeed, according to Mike Davis, senior research analyst at Butler Group.

"There are some impressive initiatives out there, but there is still a question of whether schools have enough PCs," he said.

"But internet access for low-income families is a problem because of the difficulties in getting a landline."

Schools in the SWGfL will ultimately make the decision of whether to grant access to parents, pupils and teachers, or to restrict the rollout.

The portal will initially be trialled by 50-100 schools starting this month, and goes live to the entire SWGfL on 29 February 2004.

The contract will be a welcome fillip for the reseller after its recent embarrassment over pirated software.

Ramesys paid Microsoft an undisclosed sum after discovering that a company it had acquired had inadvertently bought and sold counterfeit copies of Microsoft software.