Canton of Lucerne breaks off school software project

As the orderer of the software, the BKD decided to end the introduction of Educase at the Lucerne elementary schools in agreement with the Association of Lucerne Municipalities (VLG), it is said. The government also agreed to this course of action.

For those communities whose schools are already working with the Educase software, a solution is being sought to ensure continued operation. As the BKD informed the Keystone-SDA news agency, the software is already available in 64 communities.

At the same time, the government instructed the BKD, together with the VLG, to take the necessary precautions to procure new school administration software as soon as possible and to implement it in the schools. So far, according to the BKD, the project has cost around CHF 950,000. The costs for the new project, which is now being launched, could not yet be estimated. A public tender will be held.

It is very important to him that the schools can have up-to-date and functioning administration software within a reasonable period of time, Lucerne's education director Marcel Schwerzmann (independent) is quoted as saying.

The software project has been under fire for a long time. The new software solution should have served the elementary schools as a uniform platform for all student and school-related areas and processes and should have led to simplifications.

In 2014, the canton of Lucerne awarded the Sursee-based company Base-Net Informatik AG the contract for the standard software as part of a tender. However, this could not offer a standard application, but the canton and the municipalities got involved in an actual development project, wrote the government last December in response to a parliamentary question from GLP Canton Councilor Urs Brücker.

She also stated that a project termination would be considered if the supplier was not able to deliver the contractually guaranteed product in terms of quality and on-time delivery.

Originally, the schedule stipulated that the software would be introduced by summer 2019. This schedule soon proved to be outdated. Also because of the corona pandemic and the lack of maturity of the standard software, the project planning had to be adjusted, and completion was targeted for August 2023.

In 2016, the cantonal council passed the corresponding message. The project should - calculated over ten years - cost a total of around 7.7 million francs. The canton should have paid for the purchase and maintenance of the software, and the municipalities for maintenance, support and hosting.