Joachim Horn
Founder and CEO of SAM Labs
SAM Labs is an edtech company that combines hardware and software to bring coding in the classroom to life.
It’s no understatement to say that coding will become even more important for the future economy here in the UK and abroad. While older generations might panic at the idea of lines upon lines of code, younger generations who have grown up surrounded by technology are happier to manipulate basic elements of code as they seek to influence and understand the world around them.
As coding becomes increasingly important, however, we risk leaving a generation of the most recent school leavers behind. That is, those who are not having the benefit of learning coding in schools now, but who are still young enough that they will be expected to understand and apply coding in their future careers.
While coding today is somewhat confined to a specific set of careers in IT, science, and computing, it won’t be long until most jobs need some understanding of how to code, in the same way that the majority of jobs today expect a basic proficiency in maths or word processing. As a nation, we’re increasingly aware of this new reality. We recently carried out research in association with YouGov looking at attitudes towards coding and found that 1 in 3 UK adults believe that most jobs in the future will require all applicants to have a basic understanding of coding.
As we had expected, there is also a worry amongst the most recent school leavers who have not necessarily received the classes in coding that they now feel they need. When we surveyed 18 to 24-year-olds, 7 in 10 said that they wish that they had been taught coding while they were in school.
Coding clearly needs to be a subject that is taught to all ages, and that runs throughout the curriculum. As coding plays a bigger role in the school curriculum, it also requires a shift in priorities when it comes to what kids needs to learn as essential skills.
For example, 53% of UK adults now think that learning to code is just as important, if not more important, than learning a foreign language such as French or German. Even more telling, 1 in 3 UK adults we surveyed believe that coding is just as important as maths or English when it comes to improving future career prospects. Coding classes need to be a part of the core school curriculum and run through everything that schools teach. It simply cannot be treated as an afterthought.
It’s vital that people of all ages are given access to the tools they need to learn how to code, whether they’re just starting school or just about to leave. 54% of UK adults now believe that mandatory coding classes in school are vital for the future of the UK economy. I wholeheartedly agree.
Whether this is through using coding tools like those we create at SAM Labs, or by ensuring teachers are receiving required training, schools need to ensure that they feel empowered to teach coding not just as a token lesson once a week, but as an integral part of the curriculum. Get this right, and there are huge opportunities for the future of the UK economy.
Find out more about SAM Labs’ vision for coding in schools – and you can access the ETF’s wide range of digital skills support for practitioners.