Computing education in England is about to get a much-needed jolt of funding with the help of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The money will found a new National Centre for Computing.

The welcome computing cash injection comes a year after The Royal Society reported that there was a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’ to transform the way computing is taught in schools and colleges. Commenting on the report, Raspberry Pi Foundation CEO Philip Colligan noted that “there’s a long way to go before we can say that young people are consistently getting the computing education they need and deserve in UK schools.”

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Raspberry Pi helps secure £78m for STEM education

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is one of the organisations that, jointly, have secured £78 million in UK government funding to make this vision a reality.
The Foundation is part of a consortium that also includes STEM Learning and the BCS (British Computer Society). Google has also pledged £1 million to support free online computing and computer science courses accessible to anyone.

While existing computing and ICT (information and communications technology) teachers are being directly targeted, the scheme will also upskill existing teachers in other disciplines to teach GCSE Computer Science.
Philip explains that the money will be used “to make sure every child in every school in England has access to a world-leading computing education.”

The consortium will found a new National Centre for Computing – with a network of computing hubs where existing primary and secondary school computing teachers in England will be able to take part in fully funded CPD (continuing professional development) courses. Teachers will also have access to free resources enabling them to teach computing to students from Key Stage 1 right up to A-Level.

As part of an all-hands-on-deck approach to overhauling computing teaching in England, the Raspberry Pi Foundation and its consortium have more than 60 organisations signed up to offer practical assistance and expertise. Businesses, universities, and non-profit organisations are pooling their expertise and resources to provide the support that educators and schools require.

You can learn more, and get involved, at teachcomputing.org.