54% believe coding should be introduced to school curriculum

Dublin, April 30th 2015– 54% of people believe computer coding should be introduced to the school curriculum at primary and secondary levels, according to research commissioned by UPC to mark Tech Week 2015 (April 26th – May 2nd) where the finals of the National Scratch Coding
Competition are taking place in Dublin Castle, today.

According to the consumer research undertaken by Amárach Research, the optimum age for children should learn to code was identified as 9 -10 years old. In fact of the 1000 participants surveyed, 70% of people said coding should be introduced to children at some stage between ages 6-12.

Just under half of all those surveyed said they had a good or very good understanding of what ‘coding’ is, and this was highest among 16 - 24 year olds. However the older demographic (55+) were less sure with some 70% having a poor or uncertain understanding of coding.

57% of the respondends said they have a good or very good understanding of what a programmer does.

Only 1 in 10 did not recognise the name of any programing language. Awareness was highest amongst the younger age groups, particularly those between 25 and 34.

More than 4 out of 5 people recognised Java as a computer language, followed closely by JavaScript. About a quarter of those surveyed recognised computer programming languages like C++ or SQL, with awareness dropping when ‘C’, Python, PHP, C#, Ruby and Objective C languages were referenced.

Only 1 in 10 did not recognise the name of any programing language. Awareness was highest amongst the younger age groups, particularly those between 25 and 34.

‘Coding’ is what people do to create computer software, apps and websites. It underpins browsers,your operating system, apps on your phone and all kinds of social media, and how these operate with online and other technological systems.

A previous survey conducted by UPC in October 2014 indicated that the public generally consider computer coding to be just as important as maths, science and languages - including Irish. 2 in 3 respondents said that learning computer code is as important as learning mainstream subjects including Business, Geography, Music, History, Art, Irish, Science, Languages, Maths and English. 1 in 3 said coding is ‘more important’ than Irish, and 1 in 5 said coding is ‘more important’ than maths.

UPC Ireland together with parent company, Liberty Global is a committed supporter of the CoderDojo movement, where children learn coding skills.

Anna-Maria Barry, a UPC staff volunteer who helps run CoderDojo clubs and is Corporate Communications General Manager for UPC Ireland said, “Our study into the importance of computer coding for young people has shown that there is a significant appetite for the formal introduction of computer coding into school curriculum for primary and secondary education.

“While there were varying opinions at what age a child should begin to learn to code, it’s evident that the majority of people believe it should happen before children reach their teenage years.“Through our partnership with CoderDojo, we aim to give more and more young people the opportunity to learn coding skills that will help them become the next generation of creators and innovators.

“We’re delighted also to be once again supporting CoderDojo’s Coolest Projects Awards 2015. This will see members of local coding clubs or dojos, aged 7 to 17, coming together to showcase the application of skills and knowledge they have gained from attending their weekly coding sessions. ”

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To find out more about Coolest Projects check out http://coolestprojects.org/
Coding Skills Research, October 2014 https://www.upc.ie/pdf/pressrelease/coding_skills.pdf