(Photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo Inc. / DzhafarovEduard)(Photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo Inc. / DzhafarovEduard)
London

Trustee Pushes Province To Teach Coding

It's never too early for kids to learn computer coding, according to a trustee with the Thames Valley District School.

That's why Jake Skinner asked his colleagues on the board to pass his motion to lobby the Minister of Education to include coding in the elementary school curriculum in Ontario. His fellow trustees agreed, passing the motion unanimously.

"We need to move our kids from being these technological bystanders to becoming technological authors. The awesome part about learning how to do computer programming, learning the skills behind computer programming, is that it makes them creators," says Skinner. "They don't have to be these docile bystanders of technology that are essentially controlled. They can take technology into their own hands and use it to create things that they find meaningful in their own lives."

According to Skinner, teaching coding to elementary school children would help develop logic skills which strengthens other areas of study including mathematics, science, and literature.

The TVDSB will send a letter to Education Minister Liz Sandals requesting that coding be added to the curriculum. It will also send letters to all other school boards in the province encouraging them to take the same position.

"We need to acknowledge the fact that other jurisdictions are already acting on this. They've already weighed the pros and the cons," says Skinner. "They are already moving forward with coding knowing that it gives their kids a strategic advantage when it comes to the workforce and knowing that tech companies are going to go to the places where the tech talent is."

British Columbia and Nova Scotia are the only provinces in Canada that teach coding as part of the school curriculum. Outside of Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia have added coding.

Skinner has created an online petition for parents who support the movement to have their voices heard. As of Wednesday morning, it had 39 signatures.

"It's important to have a grassroots dynamic. The public in general needs to have a voice in this," says Skinner. "Petitions are sometimes undervalued. The #CodeOn petition would be a hugely powerful tool, very convincing. What I'm trying to do is provide all of the reasons that would persuade the province to say yes on this initiative, to persuade them to invest."

A labour market study funded by the federal government found between 2015-2019 Canada will be short 182,000 computer programmers.

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