IT umbrella company contractors may be interested to learn that computing could become the new Latin unless the UK education system places more emphasis on teaching IT skills.
Google and Microsoft are now supporting the call for greater focus to be placed on computer coding.
The report, entitled Next Gen, explains that 13,600 students went to study computing at university last year, compared to 16,500 in 2003. During the same period, applications for a place at university increased significantly in a variety of subjects, but not in IT.
Alex Hope, one of the report’s co-authors, said children need to gain a proper understanding of computers and the best time to start that education is while they are still at school.
The Chartered Institute of IT has been campaigning for computing to be included in the national school curriculum for several years. The institute has welcomed the new report and thinks computing must be taught in schools if the UK is to remain as a leading player in the digital revolution.
Bill Mitchell, the BCS Academy of computing director, said the UK has a severe shortage of people graduating in computer science with the understanding to apply their expert knowledge to create value for businesses.
Universities say that only 4% of those graduating in computer science who have undertaken an industrial placement are without a job after six months.
Mr Mitchell agreed that computing is becoming the new Latin and said the subject must be brought into the classroom. Computing has been responsible for the majority of the important scientific, technological and engineering advances of recent times and we must make sure the UK continues to be a force to be reckoned with in these fields, he added.
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Image: Latin 2. by Ashley R. Good
