Kids in over 40k govt schools in U.P. to learn coding, programming

Uttar Pradesh students in classes 6-8 will learn Scratch and Python from 2024-25, but lack computers poses a challenge for practical teaching.

Students enrolled in classes 6 to 8 at more than 40,000 government-run composite (classes 1 to 8) and upper primary schools (classes 6 to 8) running under the Basic Education Council across Uttar Pradesh will now learn the programming languages Scratch and Python apart from other computer topics included in their curriculum from this very academic session of 2024-25.

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While Scratch is a visual programming language specifically designed for kids and beginners to learn to code, Python is a general-purpose programming language that is used for a wide range of applications, including web development, data analysis, and scientific computing.

Teachers of Science and Mathematics are being trained in the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) to teach these new topics added to the curriculum of science subject of these students, said officials of the state Basic education department while confirming the move.

Under the newly included topics for Class 6 students are Computers, Microsoft Paint, Microsoft Word, Stepwise Thinking, Scratch and Python while in Class 7 the topics included cover Microsoft Excel, Logical Thinking, Coding by Scratch, Python Tokens and Artificial Intelligence. Likewise, Class 8 students will now also learn about Networking and Cyber Security, User Input in Python among other topics.

However, a big challenge remains that there are no computers in the majority of these schools to give practical knowledge of these topics to the students.

Thus, teachers are worried about how they will teach programming using Python and Scratch which have been included in the curriculum sans a computer system. They also point out that with the addition of new topics, the computer curriculum has increased a lot compared to earlier. Till last year, computers were included in the science textbook as only a lesson. This year, though a separate computer textbook has not been introduced but seven lessons have been included in each class in the prescribed science textbook itself.

To teach the new topics, extensive five-day training is being given to the teachers in batches of 200 each. “In DIET-Prayagraj, we have already completed training of three batches and the training of the fourth and final batch of teachers by subject experts is now underway. The training of this final batch too will conclude on December 30,” said principal of DIET-Prayagraj Rajendra Prasad.

It is worth mentioning that Smart TVs have become available in some of these schools on which computer subjects can be taught, but more than 90% of schools do not have any facility to teach the new computer topics included in the curriculum in the name of making students aware of topics like digital literacy, computational thinking, coding and artificial intelligence.