Coding seems like an advanced computing skill that’s downright cheem.

But starting 2020, all upper primary school student will learn to code, as part of the Government’s efforts to ready them for the digital economy.

On Wednesday (10 Jul), Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran announced that compulsory coding lessons will be implemented progressively from this year.

Compulsory CFF lessons start this year

If you found the term CFF familiar, here’s why. The programme was launched back in 2014 as an optional enrichment programme.

By the end of 2020, every upper primary school student will have learned basic coding.

Some Primary 6 students will already start the 10-hour CFF lessons after their Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) this year.

If students wish to, they can opt to continue the programme in secondary school.

Coding lessons catered to primary school students

As complex as it may seem, the lessons’ difficulty will be adjusted to fit the learning ability of primary school students.

Mr Iswaran said that the goal of the lessons aims to get youths “excited” about coding. Hopefully, this means more children will take on coding at higher levels, which is essential as Singapore moves towards a digital age.

Singapore government hopes more kids will learn to code

In a study by Microsoft last year, Singapore would rely on the digital economy for a 0.6% GDP growth per year — that’s around S$13 billion.

In other words, the government hopes more kids will take coding at a higher level as Singapore’s future growth depends on them.

Furthermore, as Singapore pushes for students to enjoy learning, coding could be a good move towards a more holistic education system.

Source: mustsharenews.com