Computing teachers down by one quarter in past decade
Source: Greg
THE number of computing teachers in Scotland has dropped by 25 per cent in the past decade amid fears that many specialists are moving south of the Border.
New figures show there are now just 598 active computer science teachers in Scotland compared with 802 in 2005.
Seventeen local authorities had schools with no computing teachers, with two thirds of Highland schools having no specialists.
There were only 26 new registrations of computing teachers in Scotland last year compared with 85 in 2005.
The figures were obtained from Scottish councils under the Freedom of Information Act by an organisation which promotes technology in education.
Kate Farrell, an executive committee member at Computing at School Scotland (CASS), said the shortage was partly down to teachers completing their training in Scotland and then moving south of the Border for more competitive salaries.
She added: “English schools are trying to introduce computing into the curriculum, but don’t have a large pool of qualified subject specialists.
“They also have more flexibility in terms of salary, which may be attractive to new teachers.”
It is estimated that the IT and digital technology sector needs around 11,000 posts filled each year.
Computer science experts have said the lack of teachers to help develop this number of future workers is a major concern that must be addressed as a matter of urgency as Scottish pupils could easily lose out in any future digital revolution.
Greg Michaelson, professor of computer science at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, said: “Given the ubiquity of computer-based devices and systems, and the growing shortage of specialists with the skills to deploy them, it is tragic that declining numbers of Scotland’s schools can offer children the opportunity to study core computing.”
There are 2,698 teachers in Scotland who are registered as having computing as their main or additional subject. However it is currently unclear why fewer than one third of them are actively teaching the subject.
Andy McSwan, a computing science teacher at Knox Academy in Haddington, East Lothian, discussed some of the issues that make teaching computing so difficult.
He said: “Having spent time in two schools as the sole teacher in the department, I’m aware of the issues facing many computing science teaching colleagues in this situation.
“Working in this environment can be very isolating.
“At a time when cross-marking and quality assurance are essential, many have to travel to meet other colleagues, who in turn are giving up their free time to offer support.
“Yet a second pair of eyes on marking decisions and work you’re creating is particularly important, given that we’re responsible for marking SQA coursework that directly affects pupils’ grades.”
Last year, there were a total of 23,695 teachers in Scottish secondary schools, which means that less than three per cent are computer science teachers, despite the subject being increasingly important for pupils to gain proper workplace skills.
Ministers have acknowledged there are problems with recruiting computer science teachers, but insist they are putting measures in place to address the issue.
It is part of a wide-ranging problem in recruiting teachers for some of the most important subjects taught in secondary schools.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We recognise that there are challenges in recruiting teachers for some Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths] subjects, including computing, and we are taking action to support local authorities to address this.”
| }
|