ICT education : challenges and prospects

There are clear indications that the number of ICT student enrollments and graduates have been dropping at alarming rates. This has led to serious skills shortages in many countries, with projections pointing to a worsening situation. In turn this has put increasing pressure on policy makers, universities and other training institutions to come up with approaches to inspire young students to choose ICT for their studies. There is also a strong argument for retraining many people who already have post-secondary education, whether in the workforce or not, to overcome to looming ICT skills crises. This paper reports on the examination of these points. It will also explore appropriate ways to combat this problem through analysis and identification of real prospects for ICT education.