PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Jashford Gabriel has backed the Government’s plan to expand the Coding in Schools programme.

Responding to the recent announcement by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information that the Coding in Schools programme, which is now in its pilot phase in 20 schools, is set to be rolled out in other institutions, Gabriel told the Jamaica Observer that this was a good move in keeping with what is happening in the global community.

“The idea of introducing coding in schools is a great one and is in keeping with the realities and the requirements for the increasingly digitised global community,” said Gabriel.

He added that software development in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean is lacking and “much of the pushback in embracing coding is due to the stigma attached to commuter programming which is not easily taught or learnt”.

The JTA president suggested that in an effort to encourage more people to get involved in coding, the Government could provide incentives to attract students and teachers.

“In terms of incentives, a laptop for participants would generate much interest,” said Gabriel.

He sought to downplay fears that a focus on coding could see the the Government not paying sufficient interest to other technical areas and agricultural education.

“In relation to concerns raised that the Government is not focused enough on technical education and the teaching of agriculture in schools, both coding and technical skills can be promoted and advanced simultaneously, one does not have to be at the expense of the other. What is required is a review of the national standards curriculum to make the necessary adjustments,” said Gabriel.

He argued that with the 20 schools selected for the pilot programme, focused on 21st century requirements for coding, “critical thinking, problem solving, reasoning, analysis, interpretation, synthesising, and STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] subjects, therefore, must be priority”.

These were among the areas which Education Minister Fayval Williams had underscored when she first announced the pilot phase of the Coding in Schools programme.

At that time, Williams had said that the objectives included the development of skills, such as logical and critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, teamwork, and mathematics, and to instil confidence in students through coding.

In addition, under the programme, classes in coding computer applications would be incorporated in the regular school curriculum, and the one-and-a-half hour session would be held twice weekly for three months.

Classes, which are already under way, are being delivered using online meeting software Zoom or Google Classroom.

Addressing the virtual inaugural JTA Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Education competition awards ceremony last Friday, Williams said the pilot programme will be evaluated to determine the next steps toward wider implementation.

“The pilot… is [concluding] at the end of June, at which time we will be doing our assessment to get a sense of how it’s been, the impact that, that has had, and to see how best we could take it to other schools,” Williams said.