*President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya discloses the Coding idea for schools to teach the pupils how to code and create apps, Web sites, and other digital content in consonance with emerging technologies in the global tech space

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In line with country’s efforts at developing requisite skills to activate emerging technologies on the African continent and keep abreast of the latest digital trends, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has announced Coding as the subject for primary and secondary schools.

ConsumerConnect learnt this new technological advancement makes Kenya the first African country to approve Coding as a subject of study, and the first to introduce a Coding Syllabus to Primary and Secondary Schools on the continent.

President Kenyatta, announced this development during the launch of the global coding initiative at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, in Durban, South Africa.

The President at the event said: “I applaud the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development for leading our nation to this landmark achievement, by implementing Coding as a critical skill within our new Competency Based Curriculum.”

The East African country plans to introduce Coding in all public and private schools.

It is an initiative that was launched way back in 2013, report said.

The idea of introducing Coding as a school subject is that pupils will be taught how to code and create apps, Web sites, and other digital content.

The President also said they would learn about the basics of Programming languages, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, C++, and Java.

Kenya’s move in this regard has been described as a great step towards developing skills and technology in Africa.

In order to pace with the latest global technological trends, the Kenyan Government has decided to introduce Computer Science lessons in schools.

The decision was made after a meeting between the Ministry of Education and various stakeholders, All-Coding report said.

The initiative is said to be part of the Kenyan Government’s plan to develop technology skills on the African continent.

The new curriculum will be developed by experts from Kenya and abroad, according to report.

The Kenyan Government has been exploring ways to improve its technology sector, which is currently worth $6 billion (£4 billion) and employs over 200,000 people.

The country also had planned to expand to $30 billion (£22 billion) by 2030, and create one million jobs by 2020.

The Kenyan Government announced that computer science will be a mandatory subject for all students from grade one to 12.

This is said to be a huge step for Kenya, and the entire African continent because hitherto, Coding was only being taught as a subject in Universities and private institutions.

This move by the Kenyan government is an important milestone for Africa, as it makes them one of the few countries on this continent to offer programming skills as part of their standard education curriculum, report added.