14 DAY TRIAL // The United Kingdom will introduce a new computing curriculum later this year that would also include programming lessons for children with ages of 5 and Microsoft is obviously one of the companies that are trying to make the most of this opportunity with new investments in coding lessons.
The company will kick off “Back to School” training sessions for primary and secondary school teachers as part of a partnership with the UK organization Computing at Schools (CAS) whose target is to make coding resources available to as many as 50,000 teachers.
Microsoft will invest a total of 334,000 pounds ($561,000 / 411,000 euros) in a program that's not only supposed to help discover coding talents from the very young ages, but also to tackle the skill shortage problem in the United Kingdom. According to official statistics, there are 20,000 available jobs in the software industry offered to Britons each year, but only 7,500 graduates to fill them.
Steve Beswick, Microsoft’s director of education in the UK, has told The Guardian in an interview that all these programs do not directly imply software developing, as many of the coding skills that kids could get in schools could also help them with “maths, English, and strategic thinking.”
“Using a computer is like driving a car: everybody has to take a test and be competent at it. But you have to understand a little more about what’s under the bonnet of the car too,” he added.
“We’re not saying that everybody becomes a car mechanic or a software developer, but we will probably find more future developers and coders with this curriculum, and they will get those jobs that need to be filled.”
In the end, such a program could actually help someone discover the next Bill Gates, Beswick pointed out, even though he might now be only 5 years old.
“Out there might be a new Bill Gates, and we want to nurture that person, even if they’re five years old, so that in 10 years’ time they can create a new company that’s got the new big thing,” he said.
Together with this program, Microsoft is also one of the companies that are trying to bring more of its devices, including Surface tablets or Windows 8.1 laptops, in schools, in an attempt to help students and teachers alike discover the benefits of its software. At the same time, Google and Apple are both trying to do the same thing, turning the education sector into one of the most competitive markets for the current tech giants.