Consider Mandatory Basic Coding Skills for Primary School Curriculum

Debated in Parliament on 9 Jul 2018.

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Tin Pei Ling questioned the challenges and implications of making basic coding skills compulsory in the primary school curriculum.
The Ministry of Education noted that coding is specific and can become outdated, preferring to focus on enduring skills like problem-solving and logical reasoning developed through math and science.
The government instead promotes coding exposure through enrichment programs and co-curricular activities, such as "Code for Fun," which has involved 93,000 students since 2014.
The approach aims to build foundational skills that allow students to later learn coding more easily in secondary or pre-university education.
No mandatory coding curriculum is planned, as the emphasis remains on broader 21st-century competencies.

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Tin Pei Ling

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Education what are the challenges and implications faced by the Government when assessing whether basic coding skills should be made compulsory in our mainstream primary school curriculum.

Ong Ye Kung

Our primary school curriculum is designed to build a strong foundation in literacy, numeracy and the 21st Century Competencies (21CC) that will prepare students well for future learning.

Coding skill is, however, more specific and involves learning particular programming languages which can become outdated quickly. We should instead focus on the underlying and enduring skills, such as problem solving, logical reasoning and data-handling.

These foundational skills are currently developed through the learning of subjects, particularly mathematics and science.

Instead of making it compulsory, we are working towards exposing a broad group of students to basic coding and technology through enrichment programmes and co-curricular activities. The Ministry of Education works with the Infocomm Media Development Authority to offer programmes, such as "Code for Fun", "Lab on Wheels" and the "Digital Maker" programmes. Since 2014, 93,000 students have embarked on the "Code for Fun" programme.

Students with strong foundation in the underlying skills are able to pick up basic coding readily and learn programming languages smoothly at later stages of their education, such as in offering Computing as a formal subject at the GCE "O" or "A" level.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

Tin Pei Ling questioned the challenges and implications of making basic coding skills compulsory in the primary school curriculum.
The Ministry of Education noted that coding is specific and can become outdated, preferring to focus on enduring skills like problem-solving and logical reasoning developed through math and science.
The government instead promotes coding exposure through enrichment programs and co-curricular activities, such as "Code for Fun," which has involved 93,000 students since 2014.
The approach aims to build foundational skills that allow students to later learn coding more easily in secondary or pre-university education.
No mandatory coding curriculum is planned, as the emphasis remains on broader 21st-century competencies.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Consider Mandatory Basic Coding Skills for Primary School Curriculum | PAPERCUTS

Consider Mandatory Basic Coding Skills for Primary School Curriculum

Debated in Parliament on 9 Jul 2018.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

Tin Pei Ling questioned the challenges and implications of making basic coding skills compulsory in the primary school curriculum.
The Ministry of Education noted that coding is specific and can become outdated, preferring to focus on enduring skills like problem-solving and logical reasoning developed through math and science.
The government instead promotes coding exposure through enrichment programs and co-curricular activities, such as "Code for Fun," which has involved 93,000 students since 2014.
The approach aims to build foundational skills that allow students to later learn coding more easily in secondary or pre-university education.
No mandatory coding curriculum is planned, as the emphasis remains on broader 21st-century competencies.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Full Transcript

Tin Pei Ling

Ong Ye Kung

Our primary school curriculum is designed to build a strong foundation in literacy, numeracy and the 21st Century Competencies (21CC) that will prepare students well for future learning.

These foundational skills are currently developed through the learning of subjects, particularly mathematics and science.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

Tin Pei Ling questioned the challenges and implications of making basic coding skills compulsory in the primary school curriculum.
The Ministry of Education noted that coding is specific and can become outdated, preferring to focus on enduring skills like problem-solving and logical reasoning developed through math and science.
The government instead promotes coding exposure through enrichment programs and co-curricular activities, such as "Code for Fun," which has involved 93,000 students since 2014.
The approach aims to build foundational skills that allow students to later learn coding more easily in secondary or pre-university education.
No mandatory coding curriculum is planned, as the emphasis remains on broader 21st-century competencies.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Consider Mandatory Basic Coding Skills for Primary School Curriculum

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Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Tin Pei Ling

Ong Ye Kung

Summary

Questions Identified

Consider Mandatory Basic Coding Skills for Primary School Curriculum

Summary

Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Tin Pei Ling

Ong Ye Kung

Summary

Questions Identified