The Department of Basic Education (DBE) of the Republic of South Africa has developed a “framework of skills for a changing world” and is making plans to implement coding into the school curricula for Grade R to Grade 9 starting from next year, the News24.com portal has reported.
The DBE said the Council of Education Ministers had last year approved the implementation of a Coding and Robotics curriculum to begin during the foundation phase.
"Teachers and learners will be able to respond to emerging technologies, including the Internet of things, robotics and artificial intelligence," the department said.
A pupil entering Grade 1 this year will graduate in 2031 if they do a one-year post matric qualification, when the world — and more importantly, the job market — is vastly different, the website noted.
The DBE has partnered with Unisa, which has made 24 IT labs available to train some 72 000 teachers in coding.
"According to analysts' estimates, 65% of children all over the world who are entering primary schools are in the future likely to take jobs which do not even exist. They will be created by the market of fast developing technology which adjusts every existing job. The lion's share of job requirements will concern coding and ICT skills," Everest Group of Companies President Yuriy Chubatyuk said.
In his opinion, if children develop these skills early, this will have a global positive impact on both the job market and every child's career as they will be able to advance successfully in any sector.