A new initiative is aiming to bring digital education to students in schools across Glasgow to match the growing skills requirements of the tech industry.
Pupils in every secondary school in the city have been provided with a direct connection with digital technology practitioners and companies.
The ‘Digital Critical Friends’ programme is a partnership between ScotlandIS and DYW (Developing the Young Workforce) Glasgow and Glasgow City Council secondary schools.
Digital Critical Friends matches teachers with individuals from industry to strengthen the relationship on both sides, share current industry practices and give the industry the opportunity to feed into curriculum development.
Businesses that have already signed up for the initiative include PwC, Virgin Money, Amazon, Leidos, Morgan Stanley and Adobe.
Commenting on the programme, Karen Meechan, Interim Chair of ScotlandIS, said: “We know that a big reason the skills gap in our industry exists is because of the drop-off rates of school children and young people choosing the subject, or having the opportunity to.
“Our aim is to become involved to help rectify this and provide industry mentors for computer sciences teachers across Glasgow. This will allow us to let teachers know what’s happening, where the new technologies are, and help them advocate for more or better funding for their department and encourage young people into the computing and tech subjects.”
Last year, the Logan Report assessed the Scottish technology sector, concluding that computing science should be treated as a core school subject in the same way as maths and physics. It found that 13,000 digital tech job opportunities are created every year in Scotland and filling all of them would add £1bn to Scotland’s economy.
Alison McRae, Senior Director Glasgow Chamber of Commerce from DYW Glasgow, added: “Businesses play a key role in the response to the recommendations of the Logan Review, this project provides a great opportunity for digital tech businesses in Glasgow and Scotland to influence future skills and talent to meet future economic demand.
“Our goal for this legacy-building project is to ensure the curriculum is industry-relevant, that teachers are upskilled, and sector savvy and young people have an increased awareness of digital career opportunities through industry influence.”
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The other businesses already involved in the Digital Critical Friends programme are CalMac Ferries, I-Confidential Limited, SDS, Wescot Credit Services Ltd, Cutitronics, Massive Digital, CF Online, Capgemini, Palo Alto Networks, University of Strathclyde, Codify, BJSS and Nomadix Media.
ScotlandIS’s new initiative is a positive step for Scotland towards training the next generation of digital skills practitioners, something that has become vital as technology adoption accelerates.
In March this year, social enterprise AFBE-UK Scotland launched a coding skills club to equip young people with coding skills for possible future opportunities in the digital field.
The NextGen Coding Club supports young people aged from eight to 17 of all races, with special emphasis on children in the minority ethnic community.