EDUCATION WEEK: Encouraging signs as schools minister Gibb praises Livingstone-Hope Review
Authors of the newly-released NESTA Skills Review are ‘very encouraged’ by good vibrations coming from the Department for Education.
Ian Livingstone and Alex Hope – who co-wrote the major report – this week urged the government incorporate computer science in the national curriculum, among other sweeping changes across the academic infrastructure.
That major request has not been shot down by the Education Department at first sight, Develop can reveal, as ministers line up in support of the Skills Review.
Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister playing a key role in UK education reforms, said the Education Department “currently has a team of experts looking at the national curriculum to see which subjects should be compulsory and how our curriculum can compete with those of countries with the highest performing education systems.”
He told Develop: “The UK’s computer games industry is something to be proud of but we know that employers struggle to find enough students and graduates who have studied the core academic subjects required to get jobs in this field.”
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Eidos life president Ian Livingstone told Develop “it is very encouraging that the Schools Minister recognises the skills challenges that employers in the industry face”.
He added: “While our research does reveal the difficulties the industry faces in recruiting talent with core STEM skills, it shows that we need to update our concept of what STEM means in the 21st century.”
The Education Department’s sentiment was complicated, however, by remarks made by John Hayes, the minister for further education and skills.
“In a sense, if I’m doing my job, [Education secretary] Michael Gove doesn’t need to read the NESTA Skills Review”, he said.
When Develop put to him that the first recommendation was for a change of the curriculum – something Gove would need to sign off – Hayes appeared to backtrack on his statement.
“Michael Gove reads more than you and I put together, and if I put this report under his nose – which I will – he will read it.
“My point is, the Skills Review doesn’t need to win Michael Gove’s heart and mind, you’ve won my heart and mind.”
I am glad that this issue has finally been recognised, and I sincerely hope our government will now act upon this research.
We need more industry pioneers like Alex Hope and Ian Livingstone to help bring this change and to educate us in what we really need from our education for the future of this industry.
However, we do have problems in our education system that are much deeper than this. For too long our education establishments have been pressured raise standards and success rates. We are now at a stage where schools and colleges risk losing funding if they do not ‘perform’. We know what we need to teach our students, but the harsh truth is that many education establishments will now take the easier options to raise success rates.
I have been in education for over a decade, teaching from secondary up to HE. In one college I worked in, A-level Computing was scrapped in favour of A-Level ICT because students found the programming elements too difficult. Our 'Standards officers' failed to realise that some subjects are more difficult than others and identified Computing as a failing subject. According to them, a level 3 course in ICT is just as difficult as a level 3 course in Computer Science.
The VFX Academy was set up in partnership with Mattes & Miniatures Visual Effects with these issues in mind, and to fill this skills gap. We welcome this report and want to work with the government and industry leaders alike to take this further and help in whichever way we can.
