MidKent College’s head of computing has welcomed proposed changes to the ICT curriculum but says industry leaders should have demanded them sooner.
This week Education Secretary Michael Gove announced plans to radically revamp the way young people are taught information and communications technology in schools and colleges, describing the current system as “demotivating and dull”.
His comments followed earlier criticism from business leaders that existing ICT courses were not producing the young talent needed to fill skills gaps in industries such as video game design and engineering.
The proposed shake-up has been welcomed by Debrah Wilson – head of faculty for Computing & Information Technology at MidKent College’s Medway Campus – who agreed it was time for a change.
She said: “Giving schools and colleges more flexibility to decide their own courses is absolutely the way forward, especially in relatively deprived areas like Medway where it’s extremely important to engage with young people.
“They grew up using programs like Word and Excel and need something new. They need to learn things like graphic design and website design and programs for editing and publishing music and video, and we need the freedom to shape our own courses around students’ individual interests.
“I think it’s partly the Government’s fault the curriculum hasn’t changed earlier, but also the sector skills councils because they should be acting as the go-between. They need to listen more to what the employers want because we are very much tied by them as to what we can and can’t do.”
Mrs Wilson said the changes were required for Level 1 and 2 courses (equivalent to four GCSEs each), but defended the success of Level 3 courses (equivalent to three A-levels).
The Level 3 Extended Diploma in IT course available at MidKent College covers a wide range of units relevant for the 21st century – including digital graphics, animation, software design and website production – with about 40% of learners progressing to higher education.
Mrs Wilson added: “Whereas HE establishments are being criticised for not developing employability skills, colleges have been doing that for years. It’s not just academic and vocational training we provide, but also short courses in subjects such as interview skills.”
MidKent College also offers HE courses in IT, such as the Higher National Diploma and foundation degree, which can lead to careers in e-business development, website design and many other industries.
Meanwhile, MidKent College is also a Microsoft and CompTIA Academy, meaning it can offer Microsoft partner apprenticeship programmes, e-learning packages and commercial/bespoke training to employers.
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