The Government plans to plough money into creating special clubs to get more girls interested in computing. Education Reporter HAYDN LEWIS spoke to youngsters at Manor School, in York, to find out why girls sometimes switch off when it comes to computers.

SKILLS Minister Phil Hope has targeted £8.4 million to encourage more girls into IT careers.

The sector skills council for the industry, e-skills UK, will establish a Computer Clubs For Girls network.

Fun computer clubs involving "girls' interests", such as fashion, music and celebrity, will make Information and Communications Technology (ICT) more appealing for them. Computer Clubs For Girls will target girls aged between ten and 14, a sector which research showed often lose interest, even when they have been enthusiastic about ICT at a younger age.

At Manor School Year Nine student Justine Beall, 14, has chosen ICT as an option at GCSE, admitted computing didn't come naturally to her.

"It's hard, especially when you are trying to make programmes. You have to be really intelligent and know what you are doing with it," she said.

Justine said she wanted to manage her own children's nursery when she left school and said she realised you needed computing skills to get by.

Fellow Year Nine pupil Robyn Lancaster-Knaggs, 14, said most of her free time on the computer at home was spent messaging friends or downloading music.

Robyn said she'd be interested to know more about the clubs and thought they were a good idea, but said people who liked computers still got stereotyped as "nerds" and most of them were boys.

"They sit there with their noses to the screens and don't talk to anyone else. They are the sort of people that will go on to get jobs in IT.

"You can make a lot of money from it like Bill Gates, but I'd rather be a lawyer or teach PE," said Robyn.

Lauren Girling, 14, said: "It's wrong to say that girls aren't good at computers or aren't interested in them because it's stereotyping and to say somebody's a nerd or something because they like computers is wrong.

"Anyone can programme computers it's like anything else."

William Parker, 14, who also wanted to become a lawyer in later life, said: "I enjoy computing because it's rewarding when I do something right like if you are making a good programme or good website."

He agreed that lads who spend all their time on computers ran the risk of being classed as geeks, and computers did suffer an image problem.

ICT is compulsory at Manor until Year Nine, and then youngsters make their choices for GCSE.

Justin Shiels, the schools head of ICT, said in his experience girls were just as interested and capable at ICT as boys with, his Year 11 GCSE group being split half and half boys and girls.

But he said: "Despite our figures I can see why the Government is doing this, because more lads than girls go on to study it post-16.

"I think that although it's a terrible generalisation, lads have more to do with spatial awareness and solving problems because of the ways they play when they were younger, which works with IT, and the girls have not played like that."

Speaking at the launch of the e-skills UK Sector Skills Agreement, Mr Hope said: "Just one-in-five ICT workers are women, and this figure is falling. It is good news that we are now able to offer Computer Clubs For Girls to schools across the UK as part of e-skills sector skills agreement.

"More girls pursuing careers in the sector will help make Britain more competitive.

"We must find ways to make learning fun. The clubs will help girls follow their interests and develop their knowledge showing them ways of enhancing their work through technology in areas that fascinate them most."

The Government has called on businesses to contribute towards the scheme with donations of software and hardware, by supporting those running the clubs and identifying role models for girls.

Updated: 10:53 Wednesday, June 22, 2005