Government Launch First-ever Coding Syllabus For Primary & Secondary Schools
More than 20 million Kenyans will be trained in digital skills to compete in the global market. The training is part of Kenya’s 2020-2030 National Digital Masterplan.
The Masterplan is built around four pillars: digital infrastructure development, digital skills and innovation, digital services and data management, enterprise and digital business.
Its implementation will cost Sh5 billion.
Joe Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), said yesterday that the training will prepare Kenyans to become digital architects, allowing them to be producers rather than just consumers.
The project will be overseen by the ICT Authority in collaboration with Kodris Africa, a technology firm that provides a coding curriculum.
“We have a ten-year program where we want to train 20 million Kenyans to acquire ICT skills. The training costs will be catered for by the government,” Mucheru said at the launch of the programme in Nairobi.
“In the 21st digital economy, we must build human capacity of our citizens to enable them become innovators and producers as opposed to being producers.”
Mucheru also piloted curriculum support materials for computer coding. Under the digital literacy program, they are aimed at 100 public primary and 50 secondary schools.
The process of converting human intentions into commands that computers can understand is known as coding. The lessons will be delivered to students via an interactive online studio.
The coding syllabus has been integrated into the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) system, and after piloting, it will be implemented throughout the country.
The ICT ministry has distributed over 1.2 million laptops and connected over 22,000 schools to electricity in support of the project and ensuring that all primary and secondary students can participate.
Mwaniki Munuhe, the chair of Kodris Africa, stated that in order to ensure that the content delivered is of high quality, they partnered with Pearson, the world’s largest private education company, and will be evaluating the syllabus’s progress.
“As a result of this partnership, we now have an integration matrix that demonstrates how coding through Kodris Africa supports the CBC learning pillars.
“I am particularly encouraged to note that the government’s digital literacy program has made Kenya ready for deployment of coding content,” Mwaniki said.
Mwaniki stated that Kodris Africa has created a teacher’s guide that details how to teach each lesson and introduce various concepts to students.
He called for the preparation of children to take their place as global citizens by teaching them the next most important and universal language and Coding is that language.
We want them to go to school to acquire knowledge that is relevant to their most ambitious objectives,” Mwaniki said.
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The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development has already approved the curriculum support material (KICD).
Mugumo Munene, CEO of Kodris Africa, stated that the coding curriculum will improve students’ technological skills, put them on the map in the ever-changing world of technology, and prepare them for the job market.
Government Launch First-ever Coding Syllabus For Primary & Secondary Schools
