Overhauling of IT Curriculum in Schools in the Offing

The government of UK is pushing ahead with its plans of reconstructing the ICT and Computer Science syllabi in schools. The IT giants like Microsoft, Cisco, Proctor & Gamble and many more shall be piloting the new curriculum. According to Ed Vaizey, the communications minister, video games/visual effects industry has a tremendous potential for generating jobs in future. The potential can be capitalized only by raising a generation well versed in computer basics and skilled in writing programs.

The decision of revising the school curriculum comes in response to the huge campaigning that has been active for some time. This October, a report called Next Gen, indicated that if the computer education in UK schools emphasizes more on writing computer programs and knowledge of computing, UK could become an international hub for special effects/video games industries. It had further criticized the present state of syllabi by calling it capable of producing clerks and not engineers. Mr. Alex Hope, co-author of Next Gen, believes that Britain can rely on the video games/visual effects industries for growth of its economy provided a real interest is created about computers and the science behind it. This will inspire them to opt for computer science later. ‘Back to coding’ mantra would recreate interest in the subject.