For centuries the staple diet of courses taught to students in schools consisted of subjects such as science, geography, math and english. Then a few decades ago, technology permeated our lives to the extent that subjects such as Information and Communications Technology as well as Computer Studies became optional subjects students can choose to study. Here in Dubai, at select schools, those subjects can often only be chosen as a field of study at the age of 15, something I find amusing as most babies seem to be born with the innate ability to text on an iPhone.
Whilst study of the inner workings of technology in Dubai educational institutions is shallow in depth (I spent years studying the intricacies of Microsoft Office as part of my IGCSE and A Level “Information and Communications Technology” course, a field of knowledge that is ultimately useless if I wanted to pursue a higher diploma in the field of technology), many other countries have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, coding as a part of the curriculum at schools. Take Australia for instance, coding has recently replaced history and geography in the new “Digital Technologies Curriculum” according to The Australian. The Australian goes on to report that 21st century coding will be taught in primary schools from Year 5 onwards, while programming will be taught from Year 7. In Australia there has been a great push for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, with the push resulting in the implementation of four separate STEM initiatives: the development of an innovative maths curriculum, the introduction of computer coding, a P-TECH-style school pilot site and the funding of summer schools for STEM students from underrepresented groups. The total cost of the initiatives will be around 12 million Australian dollars.
Australia isn’t the only place on Earth that has recognised the importance and need for young children in schools to delve deeper into programming and coding: New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that within 10 years all of the city’s public schools will be required to offer computer science to all students. The reason there’s a 10 year delay is due to need to train about 5000 teachers to meet the city’s pledge to provide tutoring at every school level. The cost for the introduction of computer science and subsequent revamping of the system? $81 million.
While implementing computer science into a school’s curriculum is clearly costly, the benefit of doing so far outweighs the initial expense. It is no secret that computer science jobs are some of the fastest growing and highest paying jobs in the world, yet in Dubai, the majority of students don’t come into contact with the subject till they enroll into college and even then only a few colleges here offer it as a subject. GEMS Education is an education group that runs the majority of private schools in Dubai, yet of the 43 schools it operates across the United Arab Emirates, only 3 offer computer science as an optional subject. Thankfully, the majority of GEMS schools do offer courses in the computer and technology field as extracurricular subjects. For instance Cisco’s CCNA degree was taught as an “after school” course at the school I studied at. An extracurricular course however, is not the same as a compulsory subject or even an optional subject.
However, the disparity between the amount of computer science jobs and the near lack of computer science being taught in Dubai is startling to say the least and far too great. While Dubai boasts an “Internet City” which hosts offices for some of the biggest tech companies in the world, it seems a shame that barely any of the students in the city are given exposure to programming in general before they reach university.
In a city where iPhones are greater in volume than sand, there is an overflowing reservoir of ignorance when it comes to coding and programming.
