Google has promised to fund Teach First, a charity set up to boost the teaching of technical skills in the UK, according to The Inquirer.
The firm's chairman Eric Schmidt made the announcement at the Science Museum in London last night. Schmidt said that it is important to fund education because of the impact it has on lives, adding that the UK is presently lacking in young, skilled people.
"Science transforms our understanding of the world, and gives us the building blocks to transform our lives," he said. "We recognize there's a severe shortage in the UK of people equipped to teach computer science. So, we've joined forces with Teach First to help train and support more than 100 first rate science and computer science teachers over the next three years."
Google will support Teach First training courses that will release a cadre of well trained teachers into the educational wilds. One hundred and two teachers will be trained over three years, and Google will provide each of them with a bursary to help them fund the purchase of "innovative teaching aides" including the Raspberry Pi to help them on their way.
"The shortage of ICT and science teachers is an issue facing most schools, but this issue is especially acute in those schools serving low-income communities. [We] will be able to ensure that, over the three years of the partnership, more than 20,000 pupils from low socio- economic backgrounds will benefit from having access to inspirational ICT and science teachers," said Teach First Founder and CEO Brett Wigdortz.
"This partnership has the potential to help a generation of young people access the technologies of the future."
