Technology Key to Primary School's Curriculum

A recent review of the national curriculum for England's primary school has determined that IT and technology should become a centre piece, given equal time to core subjects such as English, Maths and Geography.

Former chief inspector of schools, Jim Rose has made a number of recommendations including a new focus on speaking as well as listening skills.He also said that children should be able to start school in the September following their 4th birthday.  The report was commissioned amongst fears that school timetables had become too ‘cluttered’ has stressed the importance of computers in schools and in internet use in particular being ingrained into the curriculum from an early age.

This focus on the importance of the use of IT and computers in schools was brought to light in early April when the new proposals were misinterpreted by many media outlets as ‘teaching Twitter in schools’.The real plans aim to educate children in various aspects of computer usage, from computer presentations to podcasting.

In his interim report, Sir Jim has suggested that there should be six broader areas of learning as opposed to up to 14 more traditional individual subjects such as history, geography and science.

The underlying train of thought is that if ICT in schools was ignored, a generation of children not versed in all things digital could emerge.It is the opinion of some that this would be detrimental to an economy that relies heavily on the IT and digital sectors.

Teaching unions have been welcoming of the proposed changes, the most radical shake up of the curriculum in 20 years, but have continued to criticize the curriculums apparent overreliance on testing of children.Some MPs have also welcomed the changes provided that they weren't brought in at the expense of 'dumbing down' the curriculumm, insisting that the proposals shouldn't prioritize 'headline grabbing gimmicks' at the expense of bettering children's education.