Children leaving primary school should be "independent and
confident" users of IT by the time they are 11 years old, a review
into the future curriculum for primary schools in England has
concluded.
ICT should be a core subject alongside maths and English, the
review by
former Ofsted chief Jim Rose recommends.
"Even now, a reasonable grasp of ICT is needed in education and
employment, and it will become increasingly important to command
ICT skills to prepare for technologies of the future," said the
report.
IT skills will be as important as maths and English at the core
of what children are taught at primary schools. Applications such
as Google Earth could become core to subjects such as geography.
ICT will stand pupils in good stead for their secondary education
at the age of 11, said the review.
The review recommends that children emerge "independent and
confident users of technology by the end of primary school".
"Literacy, numeracy, ICT and personal development form the new
'core' of the primary National Curriculum," said the report.
"ICT can make the unique contribution of strengthening each of
the areas of learning, and literacy and numeracy. Along with
literacy, numeracy and personal development, ICT should therefore
be at the core of the primary curriculum and be taught both
discretely to capture its essential knowledge and skills and
through its application across the whole curriculum."
Various leaks have suggested that IT would figure highly. It
was even suggested that the use of social networking applications
such as Twitter and information services such as Wikipedia being
taught. But there was no mention of them in the review.