UK Experts Say Game Education Could Help Lacking Tech Curriculum

Information and communication technology (ICT) education is failing UK students and the country's technology industry as a whole, but a curriculum that includes video game-related subjects could help resolve the matter, experts say. A report from the UK's Council for Industry and Higher Education stated that the current curriculum is not sufficiently preparing today's students for jobs in creative, digital and IT industries, according to a report in the London Evening Standard. "Clearly children are interested in computer games, and we want them to be taught the computing principles and hard maths and science that are behind the games. At the moment ICT is just a box-ticking exercise," said report editor and CEO for the Council for Industry and Higher Education Dr. David Docherty. Docherty said that tech-related schools should also look to successful online businesses such as Facebook, Amazon and Google to identify trends, and find out what kind of learning environments facilitated their successes. The report added that instead of concentrating mainly on word processing and office productivity tools, schools should encourage students to understand "the computing principles that underpin games, internet services, and green issues they are passionate about." The report added, "The ICT curriculum in schools must be radically overhauled to ensure the pipeline to higher education and employment is improved."