Royal Society reveals details of investigation into IT education

Dawinderpal Sahota, Computing, Thursday 26 August 2010 at 17:32:00

Royal Society inviting businesses to offer evidence by answering questions on
IT education

The Royal Society has called for
businesses
to offer evidence for its investigation into the problem with IT education
in schools.

The group began its investigation this month and is expecting to complete it
by November 2011.

?We?ve had our first meeting with our advisory group and drawn up the
questions we think are interesting,? explained Dr Martin Smith from the Royal
Society.

The advisory group comprises a wide group of organisations with similar
concerns about the standard of IT education in the UK.

?From this, we?ve produced a call for evidence; a set of questions for
businesses and individuals to provide answers to. The first stage is to send
these questions out as widely as possible to interested organisations and
individuals to see what evidence exists and what their opinions are. That will
shape what we do with the rest of the project,? he said.

With numbers of young people studying ICT and computer science at GCSE and
A-Level falling consistently, students are instead being attracted to taking up
apprenticeships with employers. BT recently said that it saw unprecedented
interest in its apprenticeship scheme this year and IBM has also launched its
own apprenticeship scheme in the UK.

Smith said that this trend could mean that students that are being encouraged
to study subjects at GCSE and A-Level ? and then take it further to degree level
- are being given the wrong advice when it comes to IT education. Employment
schemes could in fact suit them better.

?In reality, employers aren?t seeing GCSE and A-Level IT as a good thing to
study, so are students being given the right advice?? he said.

?It?s entirely all right for the number of students studying IT A-levels to
drop so long as the number pursuing IT qualifications in another way, such as
with an employer, is increasing.?

He added that the Royal Society is predominantly concerned about the economic
effect of schools putting young people off IT.

Smith also revealed that an idea currently being explored would see IT
dropped from the curriculum as a subject in its own right, and instead
integrated more extensively across all other subjects.

?I think that?s something we are going to be looking at. There?s anecdotal
evidence that IT at GCSE level isn?t fit for purpose and we?re looking at and
considering whether to recommend changes be made.?

?I can?t say what?s going to happen yet because we?re still a while away from
reaching that stage, but it?s exactly questions like that that we?re interested
in.?

Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2268798/royal-society-reveals-details