A project aimed at helping disadvantaged young people pursue third-level education and careers in information technology began this week at the Institute of Technology in Tallaght, Dublin.
Funded by the European Union's Youthstart programme, the Technology Awareness Programme in Schools (TAPS) is designed to link education with local industry. The programme is one of the first long-term efforts to help provide the additional 2,200 technology jobs which the Irish IT industry is expected to produce annually.
TAPS - developed by Ms Eileen Goold, a lecturer in electronics at the institute - is being conducted on a pilot basis in 12 schools in the Tallaght-Clondalkin area. It has undertakings of support from a number of large technology companies with research and production facilities nearby. They include Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Xilinx and Microsoft.
The EU Youthstart programme provided three quarters of the estimated £350,000 funding, while the remainder came from the institute itself, the Department of Education and industry partners.
Aimed primarily at 12- to 16year-olds in secondary education, the TAPS website (www.ittallaght.ie/taps) was "turned on" this week by the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Martin. It gives students an overview of the IT industry, including profiles of companies and young people with technology qualifications working in the technology industry.
It also contains information on IT courses and careers, a technology company database, a password-protected partners area, and email, discussion groups and regular quizzes. The aim is to encourage students to pursue a career in IT before they make subject choices which preclude them from third-level technology and computing courses.
The industry partners are committed to helping their designated schools by facilitating industry tours and career talks. They will also promote the project over its two-year duration, and encourage its extension out of the pilot area and into other urban centres.
The programme will provide teachers with a certified IT skills course, the so-called European Computer Driving Licence. The aim is that they will then pass this basic introduction to technology on to students and other teachers. There will also be monthly workshops where experts offer technical support and deliver training to teachers on specific IT topics, including hardware, computer maintenance and security.
The number of students remaining in education to third-level is considerably lower in west Dublin than in the rest of the capital. In some areas participation rates are between 5 and 15 per cent, compared to an average for Dublin city and county of 32.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, the software industry research unit at Stanford University, California, recently said demand for the world's estimated five million computer programmers is exceeding supply and is expected to increase by 15 per cent each year. The Republic is the world's second largest software producer, after the US.
"This programme is very timely given that the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, in its recently published report, has called for the development of industry and education sector partnerships, and an awareness campaign to attract a greater number of school-leavers into appropriate technology courses," Ms Goold said.
