The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) has approved a novel syllabus for teaching coding in primary and secondary schools in the country.
The syllabus offered by an online publishing firm Kodris Africa, effectively makes Kenya the first country in Africa to approve a syllabus for teaching coding in primary and secondary schools.
Coding, popularly known as programming is the act of translating human intentions into commands that computers can understand.
Without it, computers would be useless. The approval is billed as Africa’s first set to deepen digital literacy, impact jobs and economy.
Programming is increasingly becoming a dominant factor cutting across all areas of specialisation from travel, banking, shopping, security, health to telecommunications among other facets of life.
Kenya now joins a growing list of global giants like United States of America, England, Finland, France, Turkey, Germany, and Israel among others who have already made programming a key area of study from elementary level.
Kodris Africa is an online publishing firm that specializes on equipping learners with 21st century skills such as creative problem solving and algorithmic thinking right from elementary level.
Yesterday, the KICD issued a letter to Kodris Africa which submitted the syllabus for approval signed by CEO Prof Charles Ong’ondo.
“This is to inform you that the content you submitted for curation was quality assured and the awarded approved status.
The conditions for utilisation will be included in the list of approved Digital Curriculum Support materials,” said the letter seen by The Informer.
The approval for a coding syllabus comes days after the ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru unveiled the Kenya National Digital Master plan 2022-2032 which is a blueprint for leveraging and deepening the contribution of the ICT sector to accelerate socio-economic growth.
Coding and computer programming are becoming an ever more important job skill in a world that is more computerised and every more connected and students need it to be more competitive in the modern and future job markets.
The Kodris syllabus – which is presented for learners through an interactive online studio – is also the first and only coding interactive syllabus so far to be accredited by Pearson in this category globally.
“Pearson Assured is a service that independently benchmarks and verifies the training provided by various organisations and bodies around the world.
Our expertise in training, education and quality assurance means were deployed to ensure that the Kodris Africa systems and processes have been thoroughly developed and effectively implemented.
We have regularly assessed the Kodris and its African brand Kodris Africa platform to check over year performance for all the quality standards then Pearson Assured certification has been issued due to a successful evaluation period,” said Cem Sezer, the Pearson Country Sales Manager in Turkey where the online platform was first developed and tested.
Sezer said that the successful Kodris Africa learners can sit for an online exam at the end of their education period and if successful at the exam, receive a Pearson certificate which is recognized by more than 1,000 institutions in over 100 countries.
“Apart from Kodris, which provides an interactive coding training in educational technologies, no existing company has received Pearson Assured Status in this specific area,” he said.
Kodris Africa Chief Executive Officer Mugumo Munene welcomed the approval as a valuable addition to the education menu offered in Kenya and which he said would put learners on equal footing with learners from developed nations.
Munene said similar conversations between Kodris Africa and governments of Uganda and Rwanda among others are underway to roll out the syllabus across as many African countries as possible.
“We are most delighted with this approval because it is a move that is lockstep with Kenya’s national ambitions in ICT as well as other countries where we intend to roll out.
In a heavily computerised and digital world, a skill set in computer science has become a necessity and we are honoured to provide a platform that delivers this knowledge to students,” said Munene.
“We will be rolling out in a manner that can reach as many students as possible within a short time.
The roll out programme is being carried out in partnership with key education stakeholders, banks, telcos in Kenya and across 49 African countries in order to realise this noble objective in a timely and efficient manner.”
He added: ”When students learn coding, they can become producers in this 21st century digital age rather than merely consume what is created by others.
The Kodris Africa syllabus offers 21st century skills, covers primary school and lower secondary school, has a learner friendly interface and can be taught by any schoolteacher.
A teacher does not need to have a background in STEM or ICT to teach coding through the Kodris Africa programme.”
Munene said that the online platform contains a learner’s guide for use by students while teacher licenses have accesses to the elaborate pedagogical approach to teaching Kodris.
“The teaching mechanism is broken down so that any teacher can teach coding through Kodris Africa.
It is also well designed to deliver for the learner 21st century skills such as algorithmic thinking, design thinking, productivity, analytical thinking skills and problem-solving skills.
Not only is it an immensely valuable addition to the curriculum but interdisciplinary in nature and complimentary to other subjects,” said Munene.
He said that coding as a subject of study perfectly dovetails with the government efforts to promote digital literacy in Kenya under the Digital Literacy Programme launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2016.
According to the Kenya Basic Educational Statistical Booklet 2019, 97 per cent of public primary schools had been connected to electricity and have a complete DLP package of content servers, and teacher and learner devices installed.
The digital devices installed included digital content servers and wireless routers for digital content distribution and Internet connection at primary schools.
At the launch of the Kenya National Digital Master plan last Thursday, CS Mucheru said that the blueprint is designed to enable the citizens and the public servants effectively utilize technology in their businesses and work.
The plan proposes digital literacy capacity building for all citizens starting with 20 million citizens, training of 300,000 public servants and building adequate technical support through training of 10,000 ICT professionals.
In December last year, a survey conducted by the International Finance Corporation which is an arm of the World Bank in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Rwanda shows that demand for digital skills training will surge in the coming decade, as jobs that previously did not require digital skills begin to do so. It further stated that over 50 per cent of all the jobs that will be done by children who are going to school today have not been created yet.
“By 2030, some level of digital skills will be required by 50-55 percent of all jobs in Kenya, 35-45 percent of all jobs in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Rwanda, and 20-25 percent of jobs in Mozambique.
The majority of demand for digital skills will be from occupations outside ICT specialties and will be generated by enterprises adopting digital technologies.
Seventy percent of demand is expected to be for foundational skills, followed by 23 percent for non-ICT intermediate skills,” says the report.