WIREDGOV

techUK yesterday launched a major survey aimed at parents and guardians working in the tech sector or in a tech role.

We’ve all seen the apocalyptic headlines that robots will take our jobs and the many reports claiming that anything between 10% to 50% of jobs will be automated in the future, but what we want to know is how tech-savvy parents are preparing their children for the future world of work. techUK’s survey, launched today, will seek to answer this question, as well as asking parents what they think of the curriculum and education system more widely as it is today.

Every parent wants to give their child the very best possible chance to succeed but with the world of work changing so fast and with so many uncertainties, how are parents doing this? This survey hopes to get away from wild speculation about the future of work and instead focus on what parents are doing now to prepare for the inevitable change.

In particular, we are interested on views about the current knowledge-based curriculum – do parents believe this is the right approach? Countries such as Japan and Finland have all recently reduced the emphasis on knowledge-based learning in favour of a more competencies-based approach – should the UK be following suit? And are teachers equipped for change?

In the UK, we already face a critical digital skills shortage and yet at the same time computer science graduates face some of the highest unemployment rates amongst graduates. As a sector we recognise the need to engage with the Department of Education to foster a pipeline of talent. This survey is just the start of that conversation.

We will be publishing results of the survey in early September – just in time for the next academic year!

If you work in the tech sector or work in a technology role elsewhere please fill in our short survey here, which should take no longer than ten minutes. The survey is completely anonymised and all the data collected will be used in line with GDPR. Once you’ve filled it in please pass it on to your friends and colleagues!