Promethean has been awarded what the company says is the largest single tender to date from an EU country for interactive whiteboard technology.
The multi-million Euro tender has been managed and funded by ANSAS (Agenzia Nazionale per lo Sviluppo e l’Autonomia Scolastica), the government body responsible for supporting Italian schools and districts with advice and guidance to improving teaching and learning.
The tender is for Promethean to supply and install 8,000 ActivBoard+2 interactive whiteboard systems in around 4,000 of Italy’s first grade secondary schools, which teach students aged between 11 – 13 years.
Subject to and following the normal ‘standstill’ period for all EU countries’ procurement programmes, final contract signature is envisaged towards the end of this year with supply of the interactive systems commencing in 2011.
Italy has some 28,000 primary and secondary schools with around 509,000 classrooms. Completion of this tender will see a total of around 7% of all these classrooms equipped with interactive whiteboards.
This ANSAS tender reflects both the priority given by governments to education and educators’ recognition of the significant improvement in learning standards, which interactive educational technology helps achieve.
“We are delighted to be awarded this significant tender,” said Jean-Yves Charlier, Promethean’s chief executive officer. “It is the third major continental European tender to date introducing interactive technology to their educational systems and is further evidence of the widening interest of governments and educators in the impact this technology has on helping raise learning standards. Each of the three major European tenders to date have adopted Promethean technology, and we believe this is valuable confirmation of the quality, functionality, and effectiveness of our integrated solutions.”
