Slovak Technical University rector Robert Redhammer (source: Sme)
Demand to study information technology at universities is high. The problem is a lack of lecturers in this field and the inability of universities to attract new young lecturers, reported Slovak Technical University rector Robert Redhammer at the ITAPA 2016 conference on June 9.
“The financing of universities is one of the reasons,” said Redhammer, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “It simply doesn’t reflect the needs of the labour market and of society.”
Universities have thus come up with a proposal for the IT sector to help change this method of financing.
“I have to say that many IT companies are contributing to education at universities, supplying laboratories with equipment and drawing up joint projects,” Redhammer said according to TASR. “However, this is still not enough to balance out the lack of financial resources for superior IT education.”
Emil Fitoš of the Atos IT company maintains that demand for IT experts is high. This sector could hire an additional 10,000 people in the near future, but the number of people available to take up such jobs immediately is very small.
IT companies positively welcome cooperation with IT programmes at universities and support systemic changes. In particular the financing of universities should change to reflect the labour market demands, believes Fitoš.
“It’s nonsense not to channel sufficient resources for educational programmes for which we can offer a job,” said Fitoš, as quoted by TASR.
