Government to axe current ICT program for "open source" curriculum from September

The Government will announce later today it's to scrap the current existing ICT (Information and Communications Technology) program in schools in England from the start of the new term in September.

The new system, which will be more "open source," will hopefully lead to the creation of a brand new computing GCSE, as well as new exams and courses for universities and businesses.

"Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum," education secretary Michael Gove is set to announce this morning in London at the BETT show for educational technology.

"Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word or Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations."

Ian Livingstone, Eidos life-president and co-author of the NextGen report last year, has said the curriculum as it is today is "essentially irrelevent".

"It's a travesty given our heritage as the most creative nation in the world," Livingstone, who's been an advisor to Gove, told the BBC.

"Children are being forced to learn how to use applications, rather than to make them. They are becoming slaves to the user interface and are totally bored by it."

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