In a tech-driven world, schoolkids get coding lessons

CHENNAI: A for Android, B for BASIC, C for C++? Soon, English, Hindi and Tamil may not be the only languages a child in Class 5 will be learning.

Naveen Mahesh, principal of HLC International School, is making plans to introduce computer coding in primary classes because he believes it is as important as science and math. "It's a tech world out there, driven by coding," says Mahesh, whose school has formed a think tank with parents who head tech businesses as well as software professionals to upgrade the curriculum.

He was inspired after watching a video of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates saying computer science and programming ought to be part of the core curriculum in education. "Last year, we started coding in Class 4. In the next academic year, we are going to start in Class 3," says Sarala Arumugam, a former software engineer and now IT head at HLC International. "Coding helps improve analytical skills," she says.

In Dehradun, Lalit Pant, who calls himself a "codecrafter", teaches computer programming and math to schoolchildren. "Teaching coding gives children a solid grasp on technology. It is also a great way to teach math," says Pant, who was a professional programmer for 16 years and has created software that helps teach children to code.

Last year, when Laghavi Sharma realised that it was relatively easy to teach her eight-year-old to code an app, she decided to launch a coding workshop for children during the holidays. "I have been teaching professionally for several years, and realised it is something children can understand easily," says Delhi-based Sharma, an Android trainer and co-founder of Cwide Softech.

Sanjay and Shravan Kumaran, in Classes 6 and 8 at Vaels Billabong in Chennai learnt the basics of programming from their software engineer dad and picked up the rest from books and websites. In January 2012, they submitted an app to Apple and launched their own company GoDimensions. "Every day, after we are done with homework we work on developing new apps," says Shravan. The brothers have just launched their sixth app - an emergency app that connects people to police, fire department and family.

"After we started creating apps, a lot of our classmates got interested. We taught them the basics," says Shravan, who uses languages such as Objective C and Eclipse to create his apps. "Coding is not as easy to learn as people think. Unless it is taught well, it can be confusing," says Sanjay.

Sourse : timesofindia.indiatimes.com