The National Digital Skills Drought: ONE IN THREE parents believe current school curriculum does not support children for their future careers 

Leading online tutoring platform, @MyTutor, conducted national research investigating whether the school system is fit for purpose

While the integration of technology into contemporary society is widely recognised as the norm and deemed a necessary skill in the world of work, there appears to be a significant drought of technology skills in our current education system. With research from the Learning and Work Institute at WorldSkills UK showing that 92% of businesses agree that having basic digital knowhow is essential for employees, and a further 76% concurring that digital skills shortage would impact the effectiveness of their business, there needs to be a call-to-action. 

In a recent survey of parents across the country, the nation’s most trusted online tutoring platform, MyTutor, highlighted the shared concerns over how schools teach digital skills to support pupils’ future careers. 32% agreed that the private sector’s increasing focus on digital and technological skills meant that the current school curriculum did not serve their child’s career progression and was not fit for purpose in supporting their child’s career aspirations. One in four parents agreed that their child was inspired to learn about STEM field subjects to pursue their future career.

However, as the current curriculum stands, there are significant obstacles to achieving their goals. Despite their best efforts, schools also struggle to find enough teachers with the appropriate skill set to teach these lessons. This means that too many children are not learning the most up-to-date technical skills that employers are crying out for.

Key stats:

• 32% of parents (3.9 million) agree that the current curriculum is not fit for purpose in supporting my child’s career aspirations
• 32% of parents (3.9 million) agree that because the private sector is increasingly becoming digitally and tech enabled, the current curriculum does not serve my child’s career progression
• 26% of parents (3.1 million) agree that their child has become more inspired to learn about STEM field subjects, in order to pursue a career that aids greater sustainability
• 16% of parents (1.9 million) agree that inspired by the pandemic, their child now has aspirations to work within the mental health sector and medical arena
• 13% of parents agree that their child now wants to pursue a STEM career as a result of the pandemic

Offering a beacon of hope, MyTutor is delighted to have recently acquired FireTech – a coding and technical training platform for children which helps them to develop their digital skills. FireTech supports young people to learn the digital skills which will be essential for their future careers as requested by employers across the country. This means that the platform can offer coding and digital classes alongside their tutoring support, with extra-curricular classes covering programming with Python, creating games with Roblox, and coding with Minecraft. The practical classes will ensure students are able to come away from their digital lessons with clear evidence of what they have learned and can easily build on their existing skills over time.

Bertie Hubbard, CEO and Co-Founder of MyTutor, said:

“The pandemic has had a huge effect on teens, and in response many budding scientists have become inspired to make it the last one in their lifetime. When we surveyed a group of UK parents recently, 13% told us that their child has decided to pursue a career in a STEM subject so they can make this one the last pandemic. And with so much disruption to their education this year, it’s more important than ever that kids get the academic support and mentoring they need to achieve their ambitions. 

“With MyTutor, kids can get support in STEM subjects, mentoring for particular courses and expert UCAS guidance. So, if a teen wants to become a doctor they can get science lessons from a tutor who’s also a medical student. They’ll use their recent exam experience to help them get the grades they need, and mentor them with advice on which universities to apply for and how to nail the admissions process. With the dedicated support of a tutor and their passion to see the back of pandemics, we can inspire the scientists of tomorrow.”