Study of computing needs upgrade in status

YOUR troubling report on the state of computing education in Scottish schools dredges up a number of well-known issues for reconsideration (“Big exodus of computing science teachers harming pupils’ futures”, The Herald, November 10). In terms of staffing in our secondary schools, the context should be borne in mind. When computers started being placed in our schools, in many cases an existing teacher from a different discipline had to be quickly trained in-service to be confident enough to teach what was a newly certificated subject of the school curriculum. Many of these first-wave teachers have now retired or are reaching retirement age.

The challenge is perhaps to train a sufficient number of committed teachers in dedicated “educational computing” courses rather than rely on a quick post-graduate course. If someone has a good university degree in computing I find it hard to believe they will have to spend long serving in a coffee shop.

A major factor which cannot be over-emphasised is the status of the subject in the mind of possible teachers. Of the eight Curriculum for Excellence Areas, Computing Science is not in fact classed explicitly as such within the guidance on Science Experiences and Outcomes. It appears within the overcrowded Technologies area which historically contains some subjects still not considered by some to be “core” subjects required for university entrance.

Another factor is the old chestnut which English always suffered from. If it is used daily across the curriculum why does it need to go solo? However, while English as a valuable subject is generally accepted as being worthy of certificated mainstreaming, computing activity often struggles even today for a strong identity in schools other than permeating as a utility. However, young people studying computing have rapidly growing speciality opportunities in various careers, such as in aspects of modern accountancy, including fraud detection and broader security needs. Additionally there is an expanding demand to meet the wide range of cyber-forensic investigations of the internet, banking, and also safe datarecording generally, where grounding at school must be considered invaluable.

Bill Brown,

46 Breadie Drive, Milngavie.

I NOTE with interest your recent article (“Headteachers ‘riding roughshod’ over the rights of parent councils”, The Herald, November 2). As chairwoman of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, I acknowledge the concerns raised by Scottish Parent Teacher Council members over parental engagement – there is always room for improvement – but I feel it is also important to communicate our perspective. In our experience, there are many excellent positive partnerships between schools and parents that make a real difference.

It is always easy to focus on examples where things can be better, but we should be cautious of doing a disservice to the many parent councils and schools all over Scotland that are working hard to improve relationships, reach out to parents, improve children’s education, and make Scotland’s education the best it can be.

Parents across Scotland have repeatedly told us that they don’t want to control the running of our schools, but they do want to be treated as real partners. This takes respect and commitment on both sides, and joint working on the areas where there is a shared interest. Many teachers, headteachers and parent councils are making real progress in developing their partnerships; moving on from tokenistic non-participation to real control over funds raised and decisions on school improvement. They recognise the vital role that parents can have in children’s education.

We need to celebrate the progress and efforts of our parents, parent councils and schools, who are all striving each day to achieve the best possible education for our children.

Joanna Murphy,

Chairwoman, National Parent Forum of Scotland, 9 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh.