Only four girls take A-level computing in N Ireland

There were four girls in my A-Level Computing Class. Those are pretty low numbers.

By JamesD29 on 17 Aug 2012

IT Provision

Queen's University Belfast ran a Computing and Psychology module. While everything else I studied there was a privilege to study the computing module was extremely poor so I really wonder what the value of a course at A level would be.
As your article notes the uptake for maths and physics increased which are much more valuable courses as starters for those considering working in IT.
Unless you go down the self taught or vocational route IT is best taught as a whole degree.
IT as part of a Business Studies A Level makes sense because you it could help students decide whether to specialize later in their careers.

By simontompkins on 17 Aug 2012

IT Provision

Queen's University Belfast ran a Computing and Psychology module. While everything else I studied there was a privilege to study the computing module was extremely poor so I really wonder what the value of a course at A level would be.
As your article notes the uptake for maths and physics increased which are much more valuable courses as starters for those considering working in IT.
Unless you go down the self taught or vocational route IT is best taught as a whole degree.
IT as part of a Business Studies A Level makes sense because you it could help students decide whether to specialize later in their careers.

By simontompkins on 17 Aug 2012

Good career?

.
Maybe the problem is that it is no longer seen as a good career choice.

Not only has IT been de-skilled to a large extent, there is a persistent problem with keeping up to date.

Too many people have discovered that a few years in a job is enough for the world to have moved on and whereas employers were once clamouring for their skill set they now want the latest 'flavour of the month'.

I would never recommend IT as a career now because there are so many others where it is reasonably easy to keep your skills up to date.

By qpw3141 on 17 Aug 2012

I studied Computer Science in Dublin from 81-85. There were 12 women in a class of 36. I know the numbers of women taking the course are far fewer now than they were then.

As to keeping skills up to date, I think that's one of the attractive parts of the job. There is always stuff to learn.

By ninkibah on 17 Aug 2012

Government interference...

The trouble is that the current Government micro-manages everything, and this coupled with the speed at which technology moves on, and their lack of understanding of it in the first place, is likely to mean that any changes are our of date before they are even implemented.

By valeofyork on 17 Aug 2012

@ninkibah

"As to keeping skills up to date, I think that's one of the attractive parts of the job. There is always stuff to learn."

I would agree from the POV of it being interesting but the problem comes when you have been working for five years using skills A, B, and C and then you want to change jobs and find that ABC is now considered 'legacy' and employers are not only looking for DEF but want people with significant experience in those skills.

This is something than can happen to a person several times over a 40+ year career.

By qpw3141 on 17 Aug 2012

Don't do Computing A level

This is a non-story. You should not be doing Computing A Level. Unless you want to be a programmers/developers you don't need to study it because it's part of normal life. Programmers should be doing Maths and Physics A Level then Computer Science at university, or if you're not academic, a vocational course in computer maintenance or whatever. And people get this. Just to clarify the numbers, since 2007 Maths A Level entries have increased almost 50% and Physics by 26%.

By gavmeister on 17 Aug 2012

ICT is "office skills" anyway

No loss there. We need people with computer science skills, not a "I know how to open explorer" certificate!

By cheysuli on 17 Aug 2012

Ohh please...

@gavmeister There is more to software development than calculations ie systems design and analysis, which is a huge area in itself.

By a_byrne22 on 17 Aug 2012

More demand

That's ok, it just means my skills become more unique and hopefully I can command more money... yeah right.

By jazzy_jeff_81 on 17 Aug 2012

Stephen Houston

Those numbers look incorrect. I suspect that they related to the number of students that took the CCEA A-Level exam. Not all the schools in NI use CCEA, some of them use the English boards.

By egeekuk on 17 Aug 2012

Archaic Boring and not a good career move!

A Level Computing is still far too historical and theoretical. It doesn't contain enough about present 'real world' computing and nothing about the future of computing. It's as dead as Latin.

The problem with ICT is that over the last 15years it's exploded into the largest subject in the world. The schools, technology colleges and universities are struggling to keep up with the changes, never mind teach people what they will need to know in 2 or 3 years time; when they finish their courses. By the time you get your degree, it's out of date, and the code you learnt is by-in-large no longer useful. Certainly not by the time you find a good job - at which point you realise you have no experience and defunct skills. When you look across the office at your degree-less manager, who you went to school with, you will realise you made a missed the boat!

The professional qualifications and what you learn on-line and in a job completely outweigh what you can get from long structured courses. Unless you want to be a computing historian, learn by doing. ICT isn't in colleges and at Uni, it is online; the Internet is ICT.

By skgiven on 11 Oct 2012