Channel players back calls to overhaul IT curriculum
Industry onlookers call for more focus on skills relevant to the workforce to alleviate talent gap
An array of channel players has backed tech titans Google and Microsoft in calling for the ICT curriculum in schools to be brought up to scratch.
The two vendors have joined companies including Sony and Nintendo in backing the measures recommended in the NextGen report, published earlier this year. The report, which laid out measures designed to turn the UK into a creative hub for the games and visual effects industries, made 17 recommendations for schools, colleges and universities.
Top of the list was to "bring computer science into the National Curriculum as an essential discipline".
Google and Microsoft are the latest in a slew of household tech names to call for the UK government to revamp the ICT curriculum. Other firms to support change include Sony, Nintendo, Sega, Electronic Arts, Activision, Talk Talk and the Guardian Media Group.
The government response to the NextGen report accepts that "the current ICT programme is insufficiently rigorous and in need of reform".
"The government recognises that learning the skills to use ICT effectively and acquiring the knowledge of the underpinning computer science are two different (albeit complementary) subjects," adds the statement.
Practical action
Colin Bannister, chief technology officer at CA Technologies, claimed ICT should be taught with much greater reference to its practical business application.
"ICT is rarely taught in conjunction with business skills and this is terribly damaging for students who enter the workforce not knowing what to expect from a job and not having all the skills needed for it," he said.
"The ICT skills shortage is not just a channel issue, it is an industry issue that impacts us all and businesses, as well as the education sector, have a role to play in nurturing and developing our leaders of the future."
Dave Ellis, director of new technology and services at distributor Computerlinks, agreed that the current curriculum prepares students well to be "future users" of IT, but could do much more to create "future IT professionals".
"IT should be taught so that our future workforce not only understands how it can be used to improve business performance or enrich user experience or consumers' lives, but also so they feel they can contribute to how IT can develop and evolve, by understanding how it works," added Ellis.
Phil Hambly, group marketing editor at cloud services specialist InTechnology, claimed the curriculum struggles to keep up with the rapid speed of change in the tech world.
"The education system has acknowledged the need for technology skills and has singled this out as an area for investment - and that's good," said Hambly. "However, the pace of change is so fast that the curriculum is not keeping up. It's not fully aligned with the requirements of technology employers."
But Dave Stevinson, director of distributor VIP Computers, is of the opinion that core literacy and numeracy are ultimately the most valuable skills. ICT education can come later, he argues.
"In my opinion, primary and secondary schools should focus heavily on maths and sciences, with ICT developing as part of these subjects, and not treat ICT as a subject in its own right," he said. "Further and higher education should continue to develop ITC-specific courses and skills.
"Schools should focus heavily on driving the basics and delivering educated children with an understanding of numbers, an ability to string a sentence together, and the ability to create a rational and logical argument. I often interview people with ICT qualifications from university that struggle to conjugate verbs correctly and even understand compound interest!"
John Botham, education director at D-Link UK and Ireland, feels that to ensure ICT is taught more effectively, technology should be a more integral part of teacher training courses. While admitting the UK could stand to improve, he claims we are well ahead of lots of our mainland cousins.
"Many UK schools are at the forefront of teaching ICT skills compared with many European countries. For example, look at France and Germany, which both have very poor IT provision and limited teaching," said Botham.
"Any ICT teaching gap can be traced back to initial teacher training and universities where ICT is almost never embedded into training or degrees. ICT should be part of most lessons and used as a tool for enhanced learning as opposed to being taught as a standalone subject."
Working together
Most channel figures agree that education providers and private enterprises could work together more closely to cultivate skills that will prove useful in the workplace. Creating more entry-level tech jobs is also earmarked as a high priority.
Hambly from InTechnology said: "Schools need to provide a clearer overview of the types of technology employment available to graduates and school leavers, and then work with channel technology providers to establish tailored vocational training."
While Bannister at CA added: "Perhaps it is time for more businesses, schools and universities to team up to provide the necessary guidance and support needed to educate students in the right skills for the workplace that will benefit them, the channel and the industry as a whole."
Botham from D-Link claimed schools and business should collaborate on vocational education "to a degree". But he added that many enterprises still place disproportionate importance on purely academic qualifications.
"Large corporates do not seem to recognise ICT as a learning tool but more as a process. More private enterprises need to recognise vocational skills are as worthy as an academic degree, so they should be looking at skills in addition to academic qualifications."
Britton from Micro Focus again stressed the importance of protecting the pool of mainframe expertise and claimed all stakeholders need to work together to ensure these skills are not lost.
"Businesses need to work closely with the government and universities to educate and support each other in the preservation of critical mainframe programming knowledge to help to resolve this skills gap," he explained.
Ellis from Computerlinks concluded that employers and educators should work hand in hand to develop skills and provide hands-on experience.
"Schools and private enterprise could work more closely to develop vocational skills, as well as to give students a taste of what it's like to work in IT, through work experience or schemes such as the National Gifted and Talented programme that introduces students with a particular interest or talent to local companies and experts to inspire them to develop their skills further," he said.
"Private enterprise could also play a greater part in providing education with insight into how IT is moving in the future, as well as with expertise to supplement or complement teachers' skills."