The Royal Society has suggested ways the government can overhaul information and communications technology (ICT) teaching in schools, following promises from Education Secretary Michael Gove to scrap the way the subject is currently taught.

The body, which oversees UK sciences, recommends dividing computing into distinct subjects such as computer science and digital literacy and it said the government must do more to recruit specialist ICT teachers.

The report was led by Prof Steve Furber, the designer of the BBC Micro, widely acknowledged as one of the first educational computers, who was commissioned to investigate why there has been a chronic decline in the numbers of students studying ICT and computing.

The publication of his report is timely as it follows just days after Mr Gove’s speech to educationalists in which he said current ICT lessons were “demotivating and dull”. Mr Gove pledged that from September the government will introduce a flexible curriculum in computer science and programming, designed with the help of universities and industry.

Prof Furber said something had to be done to halt the decline in those wanting to learn computing skills: “The UK has a proud history of leading the way in the field of computer science and associated disciplines, from the development of the world’s first stored-program computers to more recent innovations such as the invention of the world wide web. However, from this bright start, we are now watching the enthusiasm of the next generation waste away through poorly conceived courses and syllabuses.”

The report also highlighted the lack of specialist ICT teachers: according to government statistics only 35% of ICT teachers are specialists, compared to more than 80% for core subjects such as maths and English.