Top IT businesses and universities are to be handed public funding to set up projects aimed at training teachers to give lessons in computer coding, it has been announced.
The move is part of a bid to get schools teaching coding to inspire the next generation of technology entrepreneurs, the Department for Education (DfE) said.
The announcement comes as a new Year Of Code campaign is launched, and ahead of the introduction of a new computing curriculum this autumn.
The DfE said a £500,000 fund would be set up, with the Government matching money invested by industry and technology businesses to establish schemes to train teachers to teach the new computing curriculum.
Introducing youngsters to computing and coding from an early age is part of the Government’s plan to ensure that young people get the education they need to be successful in later life and to ensure the UK “leads the global race in innovation”, the DfE said.
The new computing curriculum was drawn up with support from the Royal Society of Engineering, as well as leading firms such as Google and Microsoft.
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