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Many school subjects in secondary education are facing a shortage of teachers. However, for the subject of Computer Science, the vacancy pressure is already at 22.6% and is expected to increase to 61.4% by 2032. The consequence of the severe shortage of Computer Science teachers and the fact that it is not a compulsory exam subject is that many schools no longer offer this subject to students in the upper years of havo/vwo. In a society that is increasingly digitising, it is important to educate professionals who can work within the digital domain and to teach students the necessary skills as early as possible.
To combat the current and future shortage of Computer Science teachers, Dialogic has conducted research for the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to determine whether there is support for a direct route to teaching Computer Science. This direct route involves establishing a second-degree and first-degree Computer Science teacher training programme at universities of applied sciences. In discussions with teacher training institutions, it emerged that there is not strong support for this direct route to obtaining a first-degree qualification to teach Computer Science. This is particularly evident in the lack of support for the planned second-degree Computer Science teacher training programme at universities of applied sciences, which is expected to have insufficient enrolment.
In this research, Dialogic has also explored possible alternatives for the (short-term) training and supply of Computer Science teachers. Four solutions have emerged that can be further explored by stakeholders:
- A first-degree Computer Science teacher training programme at universities of applied sciences (allowing students from disciplines other than second-degree Computer Science teacher training to enrol).
- A generic first-degree Science teacher training programme with a Computer Science track at universities of applied sciences.
- Expanding the admissions policy to demonstrate subject knowledge for the first-degree Computer Science teacher training programme at universities.
- Expanding the frameworks of teacher training programmes for lateral entry into the profession.
