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To: Department of Education
Free IT courses for children in Ireland
The influence of technology and its ever-growing importance in shaping our environment means that programming is a valuable skill for any child. Programming not only prepares children and young people for future careers in computer science but also improves their problem-solving skills and logical thinking. Therefore, it should be made free for children.
Why is this important?
For many parents with a fear of gadgets, programming courses are a lifesaver. The child is already addicted to computer games and it's hard to distract them, so let them do something useful, they say. This is the most popular request when starting school.
Another popular option: parents understand the prospects of IT-sphere and send their children to learn demanded skills for high-paying professions. Children in general find learning programming from scratch much easier than adults without IT experience.
In third place is the desire of children who are interested in IT. Parents support this interest and buy courses.
Learning to program is above all a great way to develop logical and analytical thinking.
When writing code, the programmer goes to the goal, speaks the same language as the computer and will only be understood if the code is logically constructed. If two lines are mixed up, the program or game will not work. Analytical thinking, planning, and planning come into play.
Design thinking works too. The courses are designed with a practical approach in mind, students can practice what they have learned in their projects without using ready-made templates. A clear sequence of actions, decomposition of tasks and tracking their implementation are important for success.
If, when creating a game, a child spends all his or her time on elaborating one character, the game will not happen. You will get one character without a game world. Therefore, students develop soft skills and time-management skills at the same time.