In an era where we are surrounded by technology andcomputing devices, from our homes to workplaces, it has become indispensable tobe acquainted with them at the earliest, considering every second job is an ITjob.
To begin with, umpteen number of developed countries havealready made coding a part of their elementary school education. England, oneof the pioneers of this move in the European Union has directed computerscience classes for all the children in the age bracket of 5-16. Their syllabusincludes learning programming languages like Java, learning how to debug codeand learning algorithms. The idea is not only to make them digitally literatebut also to put a thought in their minds of the potential and power of thesenew technologies.
Now to specifically talk about the computer science syllabusin the primary and secondary schools of Kashmir region, where we don’t movebeyond learning how to start a computer, learning how to make right and leftclicks of the mouse, learning Microsoft Office. The nub of the problem is thatwe don’t give our young minds a chance to think, which is exactly what codingdoes, it generates ideas in kids. It creates logic, computational thinking andcritical thinking, which is what drives the future. Coding is not only anadd-on skill but it breeds minds who become pioneers and innovators of newtechnologies.
To pick on the Java language which is taught in the primaryschools in England, I don’t hesitate in saying that being a Postgraduate passout, had it at the university level syllabus. Precisely, this is where we arebehind the developed part of the world where programming languages are inventedand we people end up being their users. Also, pertinent to say from myexperiences that we end up being unemployed by learning skills from the highestlevel of educational sources (i.e., Colleges and Universities) which havebecome obsolete and not in demand in the industries. So, unless we don’t makecomputer science classes mandatory where coding skills are imparted at thegrassroots level which essentially makes kids ready for future jobs, we willcontinue to end up being the followers of the coming technologies and won’tgive birth to the minds who would drive the future for us through entrepreneurship.
To end with, I would quote Shakespeare, who famously said, “Children must be taught how to think and not what to think”.
The author is doing MCA from Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora