A number of employers are calling for the creation of an IT industry centred GCSE so that students can attain qualifications in skills that will actually be useful to them in the long term.
Henry Duddy, head of development at FDM Group, has thrown his weight behind the proposal, and he even hopes that such a GCSE would eventually lead to the creation of an IT industry centric A-Level.
He believes that the more focused training would also encourage students to look further into the IT field, thus creating a new generation of qualified IT recruits.
He claims ”A major concern for the IT industry is of course the IT skills shortage.
“At FDM we strongly believe that graduate recruitment can offer a viable solution to this crisis, however, we also feel that this needs to be achieved by promoting computing as an academic subject from the earliest stage possible.”
This demand is a similar ongoing discussion which ROD has had regarding University courses. Back in May Theresa Durrant, Operations Director at Resource on Demand (ROD), said:
“Higher Education Institutions need to further their commercial partnerships with organisations and platforms in order to give under-graduates the edge in a crowded job market. Through offering modules in contemporary technology, such as cloud computing, graduates will enter the job market better equipped for the task in hand.”
“We are currently seeing graduates enter the job market with no certification at all, which is the bare minimum they would need to work with a platform such as salesforce.com. There is then additional training they need to undertake before they can begin to work, which we hope can be avoided in the future.”
One of the few universities to embrace Cloud Computing is Aberdeen University who offer a MSc/PgDip in ‘Cloud Computing’, but ROD is encouraging places like Aberdeen to expand their offering.
Theresa Durrant added:
“Universities can use recruitment companies, like ROD, to gauge the direction that technology is moving in, and adjust their courses accordingly – at the moment recruiters tend to be a dirty word – but we believe there is a strong partnership that if forged could help graduates, Universities and the job market.”
Lee Durrant, ROD MD, said:
“Our suggestion is that Universities take advantage of the free tools that salesforce.com offer, such as developer accounts, wide-ranging online training, and free social collaboration tools. The culmination of this is the student undergoing the certification process as an integral part of their course and leaving University with usable and employable skills. Providing a vocational and work experience led qualification that meets both the industry and direct company employment needs.”
Our observation is that educational establishments are feeling the demand from the corporate world for more targeted courses, including Cloud Computing, which can only be a good thing.