Shadow Culture Minister Dan Jarvis, has responded to the Prime Minister’s claim that his government is “not doing enough to teach the next generation of programmers” by criticising the government’s decision to exclude ICT from the English Baccalaureate.

Jarvis explained, “The Prime Minister is right; his government is not doing enough to support the next generation of programmers. He shouldn’t be surprised however. His Education secretary believes that a GCSE in Latin is more useful and important in the 21st Century than a GCSE in ICT or design.

“Too many companies are not able to expand their works forces because of government red tape in applying for public sector contracts which in turn is squeezing the number of job opportunities in programming.

“Until the government gets real about their English Baccalaureate and realises that it treats subjects like ICT as second-rate, then students will never be encouraged to become the next generation of programmers.”