Scottish Labour pledges to fix the computing studies crisis

Scottish Labour has pledged to boost digital education in the school curriculum as a means of fixing the tech talent pipeline.

The party has vowed to ensure Scottish students are among “the most digitally literate in the world” after data emerged to show the low uptake of computing science classes in schools when compared with other subjects.

New statistics from the Scottish Qualifications Authority have revealed that around 700 pupils took advanced highers in computing science this year, meanig the subject ranked as the 13th most popular choice behind subjects like art and design, music and PE.

This meant only an additional 10 students sat the exam compared to 2022, despite the growing demand for tech skills in the Scottish economy in the two years since.

Computing science also proved less popular at the national five level, ranking as the 16th most popular choice behind practical woodworking and cookery.

Meanwhile, according to the UK’s latest employer skills survey, Scottish employers are struggling to fill at least 11,000 jobs requiring digital skills, which amounts to almost a quarter of the total number of skills-shortage vacancies.

Pam Duncan-Glancy, Scottish Labour’s spokesperson on education, said: “Scotland has been the home of new technology for centuries, but rather than planning for the digital future it seems the SNP is stuck in the analogue age.

“We have to ensure Scotland's children are equipped for the modern world and the workplace.

“Scotland once led the world in education – we can do so again, and we can ensure children in Scotland are among the most digitally literate in the world.

“Labour will spread opportunity for all and make sure the next generation gets an upgrade with the computing skills they need to succeed in the modern world and create a better future.”

Labour’s pledge builds on its blueprint to deliver economic growth, which it launched in February.

As part of that plan the party placed technological innovation at the heart of economic recovery, saying it would fix the “chronic” skills shortage through measures such as the retention and relocation of tech graduates.

Today’s pledge also comes after Mark Logan, the Scottish Government’s chief entrepreneurial adviser, called out Scotland’s education bodies for not believing the subject was in “a dynamic crisis”.

Giving evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee at Holyrood, he highlighted the “bad static picture” within the computing science teaching workforce.

He said: “It’s not a great picture. It’s worse than that because there are a bunch of schools that only have one computing science teacher. So, let’s not fool ourselves: that’s not really a computing science provision in those schools.”

Over the last 15 years the number of computing studies teachers in Scotland has plummeted by a quarter, with only 16 recruited into the profession last year.

The Scottish Government also came under fire earlier this year  over failing to close the tech skills gap.

In a debate on the motion Scotland as a Technology Nation, Labour MSP Daniel Johnson and Tory MSP Brian Whittle criticised innovation minister Richard Lochhead, for failing to gauge the shortfalls in education which “underpin” and are “at the heart” of the tech industry. 

And Tory MSP Stephen Kerr accused the minister of “complacency on an industrial scale”.