Over the course of 2010, the IT skills shortage was once again in the news, as was the fact that students are becoming disillusioned with the way in which ICT is taught in schools.
According to a recent study from the Royal Society - a fellowship of the UK's most prominent scientists - there has been a 33 per cent drop in ICT GCSE students over the past three years, a 33 per cent drop in numbers studying A-level ICT in the past six years, and a huge 57 per cent drop in A-level computing students over the past eight years in England.
Reasons given include boredom - with some claiming that students find the IT curriculum bland by comparison with the way they use IT in their personal lives.
Meanwhile, professor Andrew Tuson from City University claims the current ICT syllabus has the dual effect of putting the bright kids off doing IT because of the focus on spreadsheets and word processors, while convincing weak students that this is an easy area of study, thus mismanaging student expectations.
The Royal Society is now conducting its own investigation into why students are opting not to pursue IT-related qualifications at school. Its investigation is due to be completed in November 2011; however, Computing discovered that one idea currently being explored by the Society would see IT dropped from the curriculum as a subject in its own right, and instead integrated more extensively across all other subjects.
Year of the apprenticeship
In order to counteract the falling numbers of students pursuing IT in education, IT employers have already made a concerted effort to succeed where schools are failing, by setting up their own training schemes to attract young people into the industry.
BT said it saw unprecedented interest in its apprenticeship scheme this year and has extended it as a result. IBM has also developed its first-ever apprenticeship programme in England, and the company has been looking to recruit 20 "IT specialist" apprentices to take part in a two-year development programme.
Microsoft has also launched its Britain Works campaign, aimed at providing IT skills to young people in the UK. The company is also encouraging senior IT leaders to offer work placements. The scheme will be extended to provide 3,000 apprenticeships within the company and partner organisations.
And even London Mayor Boris Johnson is calling for the city's businesses to create their own apprenticeship programmes. Government supplier Accenture is one of a number of companies supporting the challenge, having launched its own apprenticeship scheme to 1,100 of its existing staff and 200 new recruits.
The National Apprenticeship Service believes the widespread reluctance to follow traditional academic routes into IT careers could signal a move towards IT apprenticeships as an alternative way to get a foot in the door.
I read with horror the idea that ICT should be taught "cross curricular". Instead of industry complaining about the narrowness of the schools ICT curriculum, why don't they shape it? Authors have campaigned and won concessions on the english literature curriculum, sports personalities have engineered a u-turn on sport in schools.
We as ICT teachers need your support, tell government what skills you want youngsters to have and get involved. Youngsters today maybe able to use Facebook, mobile phones, iPads, but will this use bring you the skills you need? If ICT reverts to its previous position of being taught by other subject specialists, you will end up with youngsters, able to use the internet for research, word processing and some powerpoint presentation skills and very little else. Work with us please
Posted by: jobless_in2011 03 Jan 2011
The above overview highlights the importance of ensuring young people are continuing to go into IT education
It takes years to nurture talented individuals to a level of expertise that global companies can depend upon, and companies need to work together with schools and the government to ensure more students take an interest in IT and have the best possible resources at their fingertips. Organisations need to recognise the importance of equipping graduates with the right knowledge by building appropriate schemes and treating the issue just like any other business contingency plan. Businesses also need to ensure they do their part and have jobs for graduates to go into.
Furthermore, the industry needs to make sure that the current interest in new Web 2.0 technologies does not overshadow the ongoing need for expertise in core, business-critical IT systems. Businesses depend on their IT systems as the backbone of their organisations. While their existing developers may be 5-10 years away from retirement, active recruitment today will ensure they can be replaced when the time comes. Industry should also work more closely with universities to ensure that graduates leave university with the skills that the industry demands today.
Posted by: Arunn Ramadoss 22 Dec 2010
The existing Computing and ICT curricula are a big problem -- driving curriculum change is one of the targets of Computing At School [http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/], a membership association run by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (with support from Microsoft Research and other industry partners). It was created to support and promote the teaching of computer science and other computing disciplines in UK schools. We have been actively working to show Computing as a rich and deep discipline in its own right, like physics or mathematics, with one of our goals being to put the fun back into computing at school.
It seems strange that Computing and ICT are overlooked or undervalued as subjects, especially with the IT skills shortage and government initiatives such as STEM and identified priority sectors for economic renewal (for example, the Welsh Assembly Government with ICT).
(N.B. I am the leader of the Computing At School South Wales Hub!)
Posted by: Dr Tom Crick 20 Dec 2010
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