"We hope that our new partnership with Google will be a significant moment in the development of computing education in the UK, " said Mr Upton.

BBC: Google to give schools Raspberry Pi microcomputers

The decision by Education Secretary Michael Gove will mean that computing will count as a science in the English Baccalaureate for secondary school league tables from January 2014 - alongside physics, chemistry, biology and pupils taking double science.

BBC: Computer science part of English Baccalaureate

The new UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Humanitarian Engineering and Computing aims to place cultural diversity and understanding at the heart of engineering and computing education.

UNESCO: Chairs and UNITWIN Networks