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We want to be a technologically developed country. That’s a fact. With our government now working to provide laptops to standard 1 kids is it time to introduce programming languages in primary schools. The question asked is why provide kids with laptops unless we can give them the necessary tools and create an environment for them to use this technology to develop solutions.

We won’t be the first country to adopt programming languages at lower classes. Estonia, the birth place of Skype (bet you didn’t know that), has launched a nationwide scheme to teach school kids from the age of seven to 19 how to write code. For them the idea is not to develop future app developers but people who have smarter relationships with technology, computers and the internet. This should be our government’ s objective and not just fulfilling a manifesto or having the bragging rights (not that this is what they aim for).

The argument is that if we do not act now to equip our children with basic computer science skills we shall be short changing them. Despite the importance of pure sciences like physics, chemistry and biology their world shall be shaped by advancement in information communication technology and giving them the tools to adapt to this future environment shall not only help them as individuals but I believe shall be beneficial to us as a country in our bid to be a leader in technological advancements in Africa.

We do not want our kids to just be users of technology developed by other countries but also developers and creators of such technology themselves.

Should we start teaching programming in primary schools?