Skills fears as schools pull the plug on computer lessons to save money

Published on Monday 11 May 2009 18:56

SCHOOLS across Scotland are cutting computing lessons in a bid to save cash, The Scotsman has discovered.

At least eight authorities have secondaries which are dropping the subject at exam level.

Scottish Borders Council has admitted Selkirk and Eyemouth High schools will both scrap the subject.

The Scotsman has also learned at least ten other schools which were offering Advanced Higher or Higher computing in 2007-8 did not offer it this year.

Business leaders said an understanding of computers was critical to the economy and warned against squeezing out the subject.

Graham Bell, of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said it was essential computer lessons were part of the curriculum, even if exams were not offered.

He said: "IT is vital. We would be going backwards if young people were being denied access to IT in what is a very competitive economy.

"It is important for educators to have the opportunity to explain the real relevance to young people of computer skills, not just within an exam structure."

Iain Ferguson, CBI Scotland policy executive, added: "IT is perceived by business as a core skill. Any job advert you see will ask for familiarity with some software package or another.

"Schools have to find a balance between demand and supply and it's a difficult one to juggle."

In South Lanarkshire, nine schools offered the exam in 2007-8 but that fell to six this year. In many other areas, several schools have never been able to provide the qualification.

In Moray, only two of the eight secondaries offer Advanced Higher computing, although that is one more than the previous year.

Authorities have blamed the high cost of equipment and offering the course to a small number of pupils.

Susan Rae's 15-year-old son was told his choice to take Higher computing at Selkirk High would not longer be possible because of the cuts and he was offered music or maths instead. Ms Rae said: "Only the first two years will get basic computing and they won't get it after that.

"It is quite an important subject in this day and age and it seems a very strange decision to make."

Teachers warned it was symptomatic of financial cuts across the education sector.

A spokesman for Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, said: "While it is clear that many councils are currently operating in a challenging financial climate, it is an issue of very real concern if schools are unable to offer some subjects due to financial pressures."

The latest controversy emerged after cuts to hundreds of Advanced Higher courses were revealed last month. Statistics gathered through Freedom of Information laws showed courses, including mainstream subjects such as maths and English, had been dropped over the past three years.

Since 2006, 172 Advanced Higher and 117 Higher subjects have been cut at schools in 25 local authority areas.

Four or more Advanced Higher courses have been ditched in 18 schools and four or more Higher courses in seven schools.

A Borders education spokeswoman said: "Some individual schools have made the decision to remove the subject from their timetabled options.

"But this is a result of a combination of factors such as the reduction in uptake in the subject over a number of years and the fact that universities no longer require a qualification in computer studies to study IT."

Funding crisis puts pupils' access to courses at risk

COMPUTING is just the latest area to be hit by funding cuts in Scotland's schools.

Last week, it emerged one in ten schools did not offer Higher French classes and one in five did not do Higher German. However, there was a big rise in the number of pupils taking Spanish.

It is acknowledged that, as school exams advance in difficulty, the cost increases. Solutions such as schools sharing resources, with children travelling between nearby secondaries to take advantage of courses not offered in their own school, are already in place but can be impossible in rural areas.

Pupils moving between state and independent secondaries to keep costs down has also been suggested. Offering minority subjects to a small number of pupils is just as costly for private schools, and the independent sector is positive about teaming up with state schools to provide as wide a range of qualifications as possible.

Many critics blame the concordat funding arrangement between central and local government for the cuts, as it removed the ring-fencing that forced councils to maintain spending on areas such as course provision.

While council tax has been frozen by all 32 authorities for two years, another consequence is that SNP election pledges from 2007 are struggling to be fulfilled.

Reduction in class sizes has all but stalled, and only 15 councils have so far guaranteed to introduce free school meals in 2010 as planned.