Letters: Trust the digital native kids

[Re: Our pledge to bridge the digital divide will shape our post-pandemic future, yesterday]

Following London Tech Week and the government’s announcement of a new Digital Strategy to make the UK a global tech superpower, more needs to be done to increase our tech prowess.

Young people in the UK are unlikely to secure highly sought-after roles such as software developers and engineers due to an outdated national curriculum and non-inclusive approaches in recruiting talent. In fact, one in four adults say digital skills required for jobs in the technology sector were not presented when studying at school, college or university or work.

With one in six UK workers possessing low or no digital skills, a reform across education, industry, and business is urgently needed to prevent the digital skills gap from widening even further, and to support the UK’s post-pandemic recovery in a digital-first world.

Doing so requires equipping the next generation with the necessary digital skills, but over half (53 per cent) of young adults say that the digital skills career path is unclear.

Digital skills should be a central part of the national curriculum. 45 per cent of younger workers have expressed an interest in pursuing a career in the technology sector – but lack an understanding of the skills and opportunities open to them. Tackling the issue early on by prioritising the teaching of the required skills in schools is therefore key to building a talent pool of digitally literate candidates.

Simon Walker