For the third year in a row, Musson Foundation and tech-based social enterprise Halls of Learning have joined forces to offer computer coding workshops to Jamaican students.

The week-long schedule of activities was facilitated in six primary schools in the Corporate Area December 3-9.

A total of 400 students and eight teachers were expertly guided through the workshops by Marvin Hall and the Halls of Learning team. The team engaged them in exciting coding activities, using the SWIFT Playgrounds app, freely available for iPad tablets.

The students moved through several interactive challenges that taught them fundamental computer science concepts, like commands, sequences, functions, loops, and syntax.

The participants consisted of grades five and six students from Drews Avenue Primary, Seaward Primary, St Patrick’s Primary, and St Peter Claver Primary, as well as 72 students from Union Gardens Infant School and Western United Basic School.

Hour of Code is a global movement in over 180 countries designed to introduce children to computer science through engaging hour-long coding sessions and various community activities. Its aim is to demystify coding to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science.

So far, more than 670 million people have participated in the initiative and in 2018 alone, 205,000 events were registered in participating countries. The event generally takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week, which this year lasted from December 3-9.

Commenting on the importance of programmes like Hour of Code to the overall development of Jamaica’s children, Hall said that every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science.

“It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity, and by starting early, we are helping students to develop a foundation for success in the modern world and whatever their chosen career path,” Hall said.

Musson Foundation Chairman Melanie Subratie noted that teaching tech skills from a young age is an important part of preparing children to be future leaders, builders and innovators of Jamaica.

“All around the world students are being immersed in computer science, and it is important that we ensure our children are not left behind,” she said.

In addition to programmes promoting the development of Jamaica’s youth, the Musson Foundation supports technology training workshops for teachers, outreach day robotics and coding workshops, and the Jamaican Girls Coding programme. The foundation is also a sponsor of Jamaica’s award-winning robotics team.