Tech industry in open letter to Anna Ekström: Promote digital literacy and programming in schools

Skills supply
IT&Telekomföretagen, together with a number of industry representatives, is today writing an open letter to the Minister of Education, Anna Ekström, stating that digital knowledge and programming need to be emphasized more in schools. Digitization and development are limited as the industry has major challenges in finding skills. 

The pervasive digitalization of society has made the tech sector one of the main drivers of employment and economic growth. The services, products and technological innovations developed by the sector have become an increasingly important part of the economy.

- Society has changed. In the past, it was mainly about physically constructing products. Today, everything from trucks to music depends on digital solutions. In this, the tech industry is the engine and therefore schools also need to reflect this change," says Åsa Zetterberg, Director of IT&Telecom.

Today, system developers are one of the most common professions in Sweden. The job market for those who train in IT and systems science is bright to say the least. For the tech industry, the challenge is to find the right skills and also to get more girls to see IT and tech as a future profession.

- The need for staff in the tech field has never been greater, We as employers struggle every day to find and capture new talent and our clients are increasingly forced to postpone projects because there is a lack of people, says Johan Jacobsson, CEO of Sylog.

The signatories are now writing an open letter to the Minister for Education, Anna Ekström, proposing that digital literacy and programming be given greater importance in school education.

- Digitalization permeates our entire society today and should similarly permeate all subjects in school. Working with programming and digital creation in education provides an understanding of our society, how everything is connected and is a prerequisite for students to be involved citizens, says Disa Jernudd at Kodcentrum.

The letter is signed by several representatives of the tech industry. The initiators are the non-profit organization Kodcentrum and the IT company Sylog. Other signatories include IT&Telecom companies, Prevas, Kivra and Scania.

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Open letter to Minister of Education Anna Ekström

 

Creating conditions for schools to work on digital skills and programming

The IT industry in Sweden is growing and becoming increasingly important. System developers are today one of the most common professions.

Our major challenge is to find a workforce with the skills and interest in the field. According to a recent report from IT&Telecom companies, we will have a shortage of 70,000 IT experts unless special efforts are made. If we do not succeed in recruiting new talent, Sweden's position in IT will be threatened.

A few years ago, there was a lot of talk about programming in schools. As a result, programming was included in the primary school curriculum as part of mathematics and technology and as part of digital literacy in the overall objectives. Evaluations show that this work has not been nearly enough. Pupils are not acquiring the understanding of programming and the digital basics required in modern society.

We need to recognize that in today's job market, digital literacy, programming and systems development are crucial skills. Schools do not reflect this at all. There is a risk that we as a country will fall behind.

A crucial factor for students to gain the understanding we seek is that we have competent teachers. It is therefore very worrying that seven out of ten math teachers lack training in programming, according to a survey by the National Union of Teachers.

Schools must be given the conditions - time, budget, skills, support - to promote digital literacy and programming as a natural part of all subjects. Digitalization affects everything in our society and is therefore relevant in all school subjects. By placing greater emphasis on these skills in school, the IT industry will also have better conditions for recruiting more girls, which is a shortage today and a strategic issue for us as an industry.

We recognize that this is not easy and that it requires both resources and teachers with the right skills. From industry and civil society, we are happy to help in this work, so that more people have the opportunity to develop their skills for the labor market of the future.

Johan Jacobsson, CEO Sylog Sverige AB
Disa Jernudd, Secretary General of Kodcentrum
Johan Strid, CEO Prevas AB
Åsa Zetterberg, Director of IT&Telekomföretagen
Anna Bäck, CEO Kivra AB
Peter Vincent, Head of Connected Systems Scania