I refer to the report that 180 students attended a boot camp that aims to introduce young people to career opportunities in cyber security (Students get to test their skills in cyber security at boot camp, Dec 16).

Due to the good career prospects in the field of IT, interest in the computer-related courses in Singapore's universities has grown.

This can be seen in the grade profiles of applicants who were offered places in the National University of Singapore (NUS) School of Computing in the previous academic year.

The 10th percentile of applicants had A-level grades which are the same as those of applicants offered places in the university's law and medical schools.

If Singapore really wants to have more Singaporean IT professionals, the cohort sizes for computing courses in local universities should be significantly expanded.

A friend's son scored three As in his A-level exam but could not get a place in the NUS School of Computing, and had to choose a different course instead.

Chong Yuen Foong