Member Article

Introduction of coding to the new school curriculum

The start of this new school year is set to see some significant changes to the curriculum, with new subjects such as coding being introduced as a subject for all pupils to learn. Pupils aged five to seven will be expected to be able to understand algorithms and essentially to write in code.

Primary school students are more familiar than ever before with tablets, apps, interactive games and social media; therefore it seems about time that an element of computer science is introduced to the curriculum. This is excellent news for the tech and computing industries, and essential for exposing the digital generation to the workings behind what they interact with every day.

Children are taught how to use IT applications, however they are never taught the workings behind them. Even the former education secretary himself, Michael Gove, declared that lessons were “dull and demotivating”. It is hoped that Computer Science lessons will now allow these children to use their imagination and creativity, as well as calling on other aspects of the curriculum.

The reason behind this new curriculum is logical and palpable. The number of computer science and technology graduate vacancies has increased by over 50% in the last four years, whilst most other graduate sectors have remained fairly static. On the other hand, the number of computer science university applications fell by 10% in 2012, according to UCAS. The disparity clearly needs to be addressed, and the best possible starting point is at school.

If there continues to be such a distinct lack of skills, businesses will encounter more and more difficulties in recruiting employees with appropriate skills from the UK, which will stunt the growth of tech start-ups. Further more, such a huge growth in the IT and tech sectors needs to be reproduced all the way through to universities and higher education.

Despite these promising updates to the curriculum reflecting the growth in the tech industry, there remain several points to consider that may prove a challenge to the education system. Are there sufficient numbers of the right teachers available with IT skills? Do the career advice centers, particularly in secondary schools, have adequate knowledge to pass on to aspiring pupils? What will be done to encourage more Women into technology? For this last point, 81.5% of new candidates registering on Technojobs are men, representing a huge majority, and a trend the sector is hoping to overcome with the aide of education.

There remains much to do for the ever widening gap between demand for jobs and the quantity of IT competent students and graduates in the UK. The consequence of this skills gap means it will always hold back long term economic growth in the UK whilst the digital economy is forever growing. Technojobs, which is currently seeing over 19,000 live IT jobs, welcomes the new curriculum as a positive starting point to help the industry expand even further.

There is an ongoing challenge in the UK, not only to be able to source IT proficient employees, but to ensure that we remain one of the top tech hubs of Europe. This will only happen through the education system and inspiring the younger generation into an IT career.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anthony Sherick .