This start of this new school year is particularly significant this autumn as the newly created curriculum kicks in. One of the most striking changes to this curriculum is that coding is being introduced as a subject for all pupils to learn. Article by By Anthony Sherick, Director of Technojobs.
Pupils aged five to seven will be expected to “understand what algorithms are” and to “create and debug simple programs”, essentially learning to write in code. This is fantastic news for the tech and computing industries, and something that couldn’t have come any sooner for exposing the digital generation to the workings behind what they interact with every day. Primary school pupils are more familiar than ever with tablets, apps, interactive games and social media; it is therefore about time that an element of computer science will be taught.
Michael Gove, former education secretary, was once heard saying that ICT lessons were “dull and demotivating”, in that children are only taught how to use IT applications and know nothing about the workings behind them. It’s not dissimilar to sitting in a maths lesson and upon asking the meaning behind something being told “just because”. It is hoped that Computer Science lessons will now allow these children to use their imagination, as well as bringing into play creativity and scientific skills. The reason behind this new curriculum is logical and palpable. Whilst most graduate sectors remain fairly static, the number of computer science and technology graduate vacancies has significantly increased by over 50% in the last four years. By contrast, the number of computer science university applications fell by 10% in 2012, according to UCAS, and only marginally increased in 2013. Clearly this disparity needs to be addressed within the education system.
More precisely, this growth in the IT and tech sectors needs to be reflected right through from the school system to universities and higher education. Without these skills, companies will struggle to recruit employees with the right skills from the UK, which will in turn stunt the growth of technology start-ups. As promising as it is that the curriculum has been updated to reflect the growth in the tech industry, there are three key questions that remain as the crucial challenges to the education system: 1) Do they have enough of the right teachers available with IT skills? 2) Do the career advice centres, especially in secondary schools, have adequate knowledge to pass on to aspiring pupils? 3) What will be done to encourage more Women into technology? Technojobs data show that 18.5% of new candidates registering on the site are women. This is a trend the sector is trying to overcome, and the hope is that education from a young age will contribute to avoiding such a large gender gap.
The UK has a long way to go to bridge the widening gap between the volume of IT competent students or graduates and the growing demand for jobs in the sector, a skills gap that has existed for too long already. The significance of the growing digital economy means that this skills gap will always hold back long-term economic growth in the UK. 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 a consistent challenge in the UK not just to be able to source the volume of skills required, but to ensure that we are at the forefront of new technologies and markets as they evolve. This will only happen through education and inspiring the younger generation into an IT career.
