Leader: How do we get more kids into tech?

This week threw up fresh fears that the school system in this country is failing the IT industry - doing little to bring fresh talent into the 'supply chain' to redress issues such as the skills gap or the trend among firms to look overseas for quality staff.

The number of students taking technical A-levels has fallen and there is no sign the generation coming through behind them have any more interest in IT than they do in far less worthwhile subjects.

So why is this happening?

Funding is an obvious starting place - the cost of a computer for a school is obviously equal to the cost of many hundreds of text books and it can't always be an easy part of the budget to get past the governors. But let's not kid ourselves that the budget couldn't be found, even if it involved a little creative thinking.

There is enough inefficiency within the public sector to make the cost of several thousands of PCs a drop in the ocean. Also businesses would doubtless be keen to get involved to help meet these costs, in return for the 'warm glow' of publicity it would give them - not to mention the potential to shape the skills being taught on the curriculum and potentially even cherry-pick the brightest stars.

But then how many people will be happy if their child's A-level is 'brought to you in association with BT/IBM/Microsoft/Oracle et al'? Though at least by bringing in businesses the relevance of the course could be ensured and adapted to reflect market demands and development trends.

And that expert knowledge would be priceless, as another reason, for the school system's failures is pretty true of most subjects.

The quality of teachers is hit and miss - simple as that. And according to a number of readers who contacted us this week, IT is one area where this is most obvious.

The campaign to get people into teaching always used to claim that everybody remembers a good teacher... it didn't add that this is possible because there are so few good ones.

One silicon.com reader wrote in this week to point out that any IT expert worth their salt would probably be earning considerably more in the industry than they would get working as a teacher. Market forces are leaving our education system behind and realistically the state school system can no longer compete with the 'want the best, hire the best' culture - if indeed it ever could.

Then there is the fact that even if schools could guarantee facilities and decent teachers, could they ever guarantee a decent intake of students?

At the moment IT is dogged by an image crisis which prevents many students, most notably girls, from opting for technical courses.

One industry figure blamed "the fact that Bill Gates looks like such a geek". It's sad and it's shallow, but in truth how many children are going to eschew issues of image and what's 'cool' and opt for IT?

That image is largely anachronistic nowadays but more needs to be done to get that message over to the 'kids'.

And finally, if all else fails, students should be told how much they could earn with the right qualifications in IT. In truth that might be the one inescapable fact of life which undermines all other arguments and starts getting bums on seats in the classroom.