[LINK] Computer Science the 'fourth science' in the English Baccalaureate

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

'Computer Science becomes 'fourth science' in the English Baccalaureate'

"Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use 
Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have (pupils) writing their 
own Apps for smartphones."


Press notice date: 30 January 2013
<https://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a00221085/ebacccompsci>


The (U.K.) Education Secretary, Michael Gove, announced today that 
Computer Science will be included in the (English) Baccalaureate.

The change is being made because of the importance of computer science 
for both education and the economy. 

The previous ‘harmful’ ICT curriculum was removed last year and will be 
replaced soon with a new programme of study focused on computer science..


The change comes after Michael Gove’s speech in 2012 in which he said:

"As the chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, recently lamented, we in 
England have allowed our education system to ignore our great heritage 
and we are paying the price for it.

Our school system has not prepared children for this new world. Millions 
have left school over the past decade without even the basics they need 
for a decent job. And the current curriculum cannot prepare British 
students to work at the very forefront of technological change.

Universities, businesses and others will have the opportunity to devise 
new courses and exams. In particular, we want to see universities and 
businesses create new high-quality computer science GCSEs, and develop 
curricula encouraging schools to make use of the brilliant computer 
science content available on the web.

Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few 
years... Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to 
use Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-year-olds able to 
write simple 2D computer animations using an MIT tool called Scratch. By 
16, they could have an understanding of formal logic previously covered 
only in University courses and be writing their own Apps for smartphones."


Alongside Microsoft, Google, IBM, BT, Facebook, and the British Computing 
Society published a report in November 2012 which analysed computer 
science GCSE and called for it to be included in the EBacc. The Royal 
Society’s 2012 report by Steve Furber called for the inclusion of 
Computer Science in the EBacc.

>From now the GCSEs in computer science from OCR and AQA will count 
towards the EBacc in performance tables. If other exam boards develop 
GCSEs that the British Computer Society and Royal Society think are 
sufficiently high quality, then the Department for Education will include 
them too.

The Department for Education is making this announcement now so that 
pupils and schools have time to prepare for teaching from September 2013.

A Department for Education spokesperson said:

"We need to bring computational thinking into our schools. Having 
Computer Science in the EBacc will have a big impact on schools over the 
next decade. It will mean millions of children learning to write computer 
code so they are active creators and controllers of technology instead of 
just being passive users. It will be great for education, great for the 
economy, and will help restore the spirit of Alan Turing and make Britain 
a world leader again."


Ian Livingstone, Life President Eidos and Chair of Next Gen Skills, said:

"Computer science becoming the fourth science on the English 
Baccalaureate is likely to be transformational for this country. Enabling 
children to become digital makers as well as digital users is like them 
learning to write as well as read. From problem solving to writing code, 
computer science will help ensure that this country produces a new 
generation of digital makers, not just for the games industry, but for 
all creative and digital industries, and help drive the economy.”


A Google spokesperson said:

"This has been a good week for computer science education in the UK. 
Yesterday we were pleased to be able to make a donation of 15,000 
Raspberry Pi’s to school pupils in the UK. Today's announcement that 
computer science will be part of the EBacc marks a significant further 
investment in the next generation of British computer scientists."


Responding to Google’s announcement yesterday about supporting free 
Raspberry Pi in schools, Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

"It is great news that Google is helping the brilliant Raspberry Pi 
project. We are replacing the old-fashioned ICT curriculum with a 
Computer Science curriculum. This will combine with the Raspberry Pi 
project to spread teaching of computer coding which is so educationally 
and economically vital."

--

Cheers,
Stephen