A Demand For Digital Skills In Early Life.

Coding and programming have thrived so well in this tech-driven world we live in today and their importance can't be quantified judging by how much they have inspired people to develop designs and systems the world is running on today. Unlike before when coding and programming were restricted to some particular fields, even the least expected fields now have connections to coding and programming.

It's a huge surprise to me because if I didn't see it myself, I wouldn't have believed some of the things people have achieved with these skills. I actually stumbled on a video online where this tech guy built a system for his fish pond. What this system does is that, regardless of the guy’s distance from home, he can change his pond’s water and also feed the fish with an automated system.His phone serves as the control for this system so he does all this magic from his phone.

If you look at things from my perspective, I find it very impressive and it supports my point about including coding and programming in kids’ curriculum. Teaching kids these areas of technology will be of great benefit irrespective of what they want to be in the future.

I consider the knowledge a fortune in this digital age and for kids, it would be very easy for them to understand when they find it fun, plus they don't have much on their mind that can serve as a distraction. I remember my days in the polytechnic; the best programmers in the school didn't learn from school. Many of them had learned while in secondary school while some learned between the completion of secondary school and gaining admission.

A young boy went viral a few years ago during a protest after his father said he came out because of his son who had designed his first game at the age of 13, if I’m not mistaken. The man said he wants a future where his son can thrive with his skill; he didn't want Nigeria’s economy to affect those dreams and many Nigerians reacted to the story. People donated PCs and other accessories to help the young boy expand his knowledge.

The point is that such a child will be a master at his craft by the time he is twenty years of age and you can't compare him to someone who started learning these things in the university.

Another angle we can look at this from is that they might not necessarily need them in their line of work but no knowledge is wasted. I know guys in different fields that don't necessarily need coding or programming but they are earning massively for acquiring the knowledge. It's a plus for them and there are those who eventually quit their job to face tech completely because of how lucrative it is.

Teaching coding and programming in primary school can help them in their daily life. Let's put digital literacy aside; this knowledge can help them develop problem-solving skills since coding teaches logical thinking.

Like I mentioned earlier, coding helps kids become creative and you will be amazed at what kids can achieve with those skills even at a very young age.

There are some challenges we might encounter because we can expect the introduction of these things to blend in smoothly. Honestly, making coding mandatory for kids shouldn't be a problem but there are some challenges we might encounter in the course of this.

The first on my list would be the availability of teachers to teach coding and programming, judging by the number of schools and students we have, especially in third-world countries. Very few teachers have these skills, which means schools need to hire more teachers and that's more money, which would reflect on the students’ tuition fees. A lot of parents wouldn't agree to this because they don't understand the importance of the skill and that's a setback.

Adding these to the curriculum would mean more subjects for the students, which can end up as a burden on the students. More classwork, homework, projects, and it wouldn't be easy.

Putting the importance and challenges into consideration, I believe there are ways to go about including coding and programming into primary school syllabus but it doesn't have to be a compulsory subject. Hopefully the few involved at first will inspire other parents to allow their child to acquire the skills at a younger age.

You will be amazed at what kids can achieve in this digital age with coding, like that young boy who designed his first game at 13, because it helps them become creative and develop problem-solving skills in a fun way.

_{All Image Are Mine.}