Shortage of skilled workforce compounded by lack of interest in UK students for IT

July 7, 2008

The interest of UK students towards postgraduate teacher-training courses is alarmingly on the wane. The Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) data for England, Scotland and Wales shows a fall of 18 per cent in applications over the last year, across all subjects. Information technology (IT) registered the second worst decline of the year among secondary school subjects.

As per the GTTR statistics, as of June 2008, only 508 men and 273 women applied for admission to an IT PGCE (postgraduate certificate in education) course in the UK, as against 619 men and 333 women applicants in June 2007. The decline is 15.8 per cent compared to 2007. Applications for Chemistry, Biology and Business studies, which had a bigger decline than IT in the beginning of year, are improving in numbers, but the applications for IT are declining at an alarming rate.

While the number of IT learners is sliding, skills body E-Skills UK is predicting a huge demand of workers for the IT and telecoms industry. It will require 140,000 new skilled staff annually to run its growing business.

Margaret Sambell, head of strategy for e-Skills UK, emphasising the strategic importance of IT for the business and nation, informs that the UK’s IT industry is growing five times faster than the industry average. He considers it essential to inspire young students about the technology for becoming IT professionals of the future. He has appealed to everyone to show serious concern about the waning interest in teaching IT subjects.

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