Coding is a powerful tool that helps children become confident problem solvers and fosters creativity. Introducing coding as a part of formal schooling at a young age prepares kids for a digital future and equips them with the necessary 21st-century skills. However, as schools get ready to integrate coding into their curriculum, they face many daunting challenges.
One major challenge Indian schools face is a lack of basic digital infrastructure. As per UDISE (Unified District Information System for Education) data, in 2017-18, only 28.7 percent of schools in rural India and 41.9 percent in urban India had functional computer facilities.
In a great majority of schools in India, teaching-learning still happens in a chalk-n-talk way. UDISE data for 2019-20 reveals that only one in four teachers in India is trained to use a computer. The share of such trained teachers is even lower in government schools. 50% of teachers are trained to teach online in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab whereas the corresponding numbers are dismally low (around 3%) for states like Bihar and MP. There is an urgent need to provide up-skilling and capacity-building workshops for teachers if we want coding education to become a reality.
Another major challenge numerous teachers face while teaching coding is not knowing which elements to add to their curricula in order to engage students with coding. Designing a context-relevant syllabus that is rich in content and consists of interactive and motivating activities becomes a challenging task for educators. One mistake that many educators make while teaching coding is assuming that the same strategies will work all year long. Code to Enhance Learning (CEL) is a non-profit with a vision that children leverage technology to thrive in the innovative world. CEL’s teacher coding program empowers teachers to teach coding in a fun and hassle-free manner. CEL’s curriculum addresses these challenges by embedding coding with the mainstream subjects.
The educators in the tech space also have to deal with the challenge of helping parents understand why coding is important for kids. At times, parents from marginalized sections are unable to afford computers and the internet. The 75th round survey on education by the National Statistical Organization (NSO) puts the percentage of households having the internet in rural India at only 14.9 percent and those having computers at 4.4 percent (excluding smartphones). Changing parent’s traditional mindset about screen time is another roadblock in the successful integration of coding curriculum within the schools.
Above mentioned challenges owing to lack of digital infrastructure, untrained teachers, and uninformed parents are some major roadblocks in the integration of coding curriculum within the schools that need urgent attention.