Cameron To Announce National College For Digital Skills

Prime Minister David Cameron will be introducing a new National College for Digital Skills today, which is expected to be up and running during 2015 in London.

The organisation will focus on digital skills and coding in order to train “digital innovators” and the “technology experts of tomorrow.”

After working with students in London next year, centres will then be established across the country with a focus on higher level technical training.

The Digital Skills College comes as part of a wider government initiative to make maths and science the top priority in UK schools.

“There’s no secret to success in the modern world. If countries are going to win in the global race and children compete and get the best jobs, you need mathematicians and scientists – pure and simple, so today, we commit to deliver more maths and science teachers,” claimed the Prime Minister.

“This is all part of our long-term economic plan for Britain – making sure our children have the skills they need to thrive and get on. By sticking to it, we will lift our children’s horizons and pull our country up in the world,” he added.

Whitehall is aiming to equip more pupils with the skills needed to work and succeed in high-tech and science-based industries.

Better Teachers, New Qualifications

As part of the maths and science education drive, thousands of maths and physics teachers will get specialist training to help raise the quality of teaching in schools.

Over the next five years, 17,500 maths and physics teachers will be trained “over and above” current levels, along with schemes designed to attract more postgraduates, researchers and career-changers and extensive retraining for non-specialist teachers.

The scheme is expected to cost £67m and will include a programme to offer school leavers a bursary to help pay for university in return for a commitment to become a teacher when they graduate with a maths or physics degree.

The government is also set to introduce a new GCSE in computer science to establish a national standard and cover the most up-to-date issues such as writing code, designing programme and the ethical and legal impacts of digital technology.

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