Not every software engineer wants to become a class teacher, but going back to school was always part of the career plan for Orla Sonvico.
She and three colleagues from the Scottish technology company Skyscanner study at the University of Glasgow as part of a new project to strengthen the declining ranks of computer teachers.
Their number has been falling for almost two decades and fell by 25%between 2008 and 2023.
Now Orla is part of a “braided” career project, which is thought as a scoop for Scotland, that wants to help turn that decline.
The four employees who participate in the one-year professional graduate diploma in Education (PGDE) course will be paid their entire Skyscanner salary.
As soon as she graduates, Orla will have two part -time jobs – work three days a week for Skyscanner and two days a week at school.
Braided career schedule
The technical industry is seen as more attractive than teaching by many graduates in computer science because it tends to have higher salaries.
Those participating in this project will be paid pro-rata for their three days at Skyscanner and by the council for their two days in the class-so they only have to take a small salary.
Orla, 26, from Glasgow, started working for Skyscanner earlier this year after he was attracted by the braided career belongings.
She said she had always wanted to work in the industry for a few years and was then to teaching.
“But the more years you do in the industry, the harder it can go,” she said.
“When I saw this advertised … it was a very attractive option. It was something that I couldn’t leave.
“It is a very easy route for us to teach and not to give up our career in technology.”
Orla was inspired by a female science teacher at school and hopes to be a role model for others.
She also believes that her work as a software engineer will benefit young people in the classroom.
“There are many transferable skills from both sides – that is a huge advantage here,” she added.
Chief Technology Officer Andrew Phillips said that Skyscanner was built by basic talent in the early days.
The company hopes that the project encourages more students to study computer use and work in technology.
“One in eight secondary students in Scotland is now going to a school without a qualified computer science teacher.
“The future growth of the technical industry of Scotland will be dramatically limited if the systematic challenge of a narrow local talent pipeline is not tackled. That starts at school level.”
Figures from the Scottish census census show that the figures of the computers have fallen since 2008.
At the time there were 788 Computing teachers; By 2023 the number had fallen by 25% to 588.
Moreover, computer teachers are not becoming younger. According to the Census 2022, one in five older than 55 was old.
Every year the Workforce Planning Group of the Scottish government reports on the recruitment objective for teachers in specific fields, together with the actual recruited number.
An analysis of those figures from the BBC shows that Scotland had wanted to train 470 new computer teachers in the last 10 years, but only received 318 – failing with 152 messages.
Last year the national target was 52, but only 16 people signed up to become computers teachers on PGDE courses.
Senior teacher Clare Smith hopes that the Softwareers will inspire a new generation (BBC)
Clare Smith is a senior teacher of scientific education and joint management for the PGDE in Computing Science at the University of Glasgow.
She said that the university introduced the New Braided Careers program after he had noticed that it had difficulty recruiting to the course and that access to the subject in schools decreased.
“There is a real inequality in terms of the possibility for young people to study computer science at school,” she said.
Mrs Smith hopes that the software helpers help to grow a new generation of technical experts.
“You can’t be what you can’t see, so if we have teachers who are also professionals in the industry, young people not only work with teachers who have advanced knowledge and skills, they will also be inspired to have a career in that industry,” she added.
“But we also look at problems with retention in teaching. If we have that double career path, we hope it will also improve the retention in the future.”
Pari hopes to study space technology and computer science at the university (BBC)
Pupils at Hyndland Secondary School in Glasgow have a teacher in the field of computer sciences and say they see clear benefits.
Pari says she loves the different skills, including problem solving, creativity and logical thinking.
She hopes to study Aerospace Engineering and Computing Science at the university.
“It’s not just a coding, it’s about thinking logically, being creative with technology,” she says.
“There is a lot of teamwork, making it more fun.”
The Scottish government said that the number of students who took a higher and national 5-computing science had increased and was now above pre-pandemic levels.
It said that it had established and financed an organization that promotes and supports the education of computer science, together with initiatives to promote education as a career choice for calculating students.
“We work hard to encourage more students to give a career in the lesson,” a spokesperson added.
“Our educational scheme offers a payment to career changers who follow graduated teacher training in difficult courses, including Computing Science.”
