The Scottish Government’s chief entrepreneurial adviser Mark Logan has called for urgent action after new research revealed that computer science teaching in schools is in decline.

Think tank Reform Scotland found more than 32,000 children – one in eight of all secondary pupils – attend a secondary school with no qualified computer science teacher. This rises to around 50% in rural areas such as Dumfries & Galloway and the Highlands.

There were 66 schools with no computer science provision. A further 25, each with more than 1,000 pupils, have only one teacher.

Despite government pledges to invest in teaching the subject, the report says there has been a 25% fall in teachers dedicated to it over the last 15 years.

Mr Logan called for a greater focus on computing in the school curriculum as a key strand in his 2020 report to former Finance Secretary Kate Forbes on developing the digital economy.

The Scottish Technology Ecosystem pointed out that a better understanding of technology and a broader skills base is central to Scotland’s future economy, and called for computer science in schools to be treated like maths and physics

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