Facebook to help overhaul UK’s computer science teacher training course

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London, Oct 19: Big technology firms like Facebook, Microsoft and IBM will be used for an overhaul of information and communications technology (ICT) teacher training courses in the UK, a lawmaker in Britain has announced.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said that top technology firms including Facebook would help design a new computer science training course for school teachers.

Gove revealed the plans as part of a move to replace the current information and communications technology (ICT) teacher training courses with new industry-supported computer science courses.

“Computer Science is not just a rigorous, fascinating and intellectually challenging subject. It is also vital to our success in the global race,” the Telegraph quoted Gove, as saying.

“If we want our country to produce the next Sir Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the Internet, we need the very best Computer Science teachers in our classrooms. They need to have the right skills and deep subject knowledge to help their pupils,” he added.

According to the paper, the new teacher training courses, which will start from September 2013, will take on boards not just views from big industry names, but also experts such as the Chartered Institute for IT and the British Computer Society, the Department for Education said.

A new scholarship worth 20,000 pounds will be offered to 50 top graduates in the first year to train as computer science teachers, the report said. (ANI)