Majority of parents foresee digital skills gap

Raspberry Pi
Do schools need to focus more on tech?

A survey conducted by Samsung has revealed that the majority of parents believe there is a lack of technology in schools, which they think will result in a gap in digital skills in the future.

The study, which included 500 parents in the UK, showed significant disappointment in the technology, or lack thereof, in primary and secondary schools.

57 per cent said they believe schools do not invest enough in technology, and 67 per cent believe that this poor investment will hinder their children in the computer-heavy world of tomorrow.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 72 per cent believe that technology at home is better than at school. Many children have access to PCs at home, in addition to the growing sector of smartphones and tablet computers.

Technology should be priority

56 per cent believe that IT investment should be the main priority in schools, while 45 per cent believe that improving the place of digital skills in the curriculum should be the focus. These parents might get their wish with the upcoming change to a new Computing syllabus for primary schools.

A whopping 97 per cent said that technology in classrooms should be matching the pace of technological developments. This might be a hard task to achieve, but there is little doubt that UK schools are very far behind the latest technological achievements.

"Studies prove that technology helps children learn more effectively and is a fantastic way to create a more collaborative education experience. Schools are quickly moving away from teaching being a one size fits all approach, as different pupils learn in different ways. Technology is the key to helping teachers address this challenge," said Graham Long, VP of the Enterprise Business Team at Samsung UK & Ireland.