{"id":43246,"date":"2023-10-20T15:27:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/new-petition-calls-for-computer-programming-in-primary-schools-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:27:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:27:11","slug":"new-petition-calls-for-computer-programming-in-primary-schools-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/new-petition-calls-for-computer-programming-in-primary-schools-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"New petition calls for computer-programming in primary schools – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The National Computer Science School has encouraged entrepreneurs and \u201ctechnology creators\u201d to sign a petition supporting the introduction of computer-programming in Australian schools.<\/p>\n

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NCSS provides opportunities for Australian high school students to learn computer-programming skills with the hope of attracting them to ICT-related subjects at university.<\/p>\n

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NCSS is petitioning the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), urging it to support a draft of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies Foundation to Year 10.<\/p>\n

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The draft draws together the subjects of design and technologies, and digital technologies. It is written on the assumption that all students from Foundation to Year 8 will study both subjects.<\/p>\n

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For Years 9 to 10, school authorities will decide whether students can choose to continue in one or both students and\/or whether technologies specialisations not provided for in these subjects will be offered.<\/p>\n

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According to NCSS, the digital technologies section of the draft is a \u201cmassive step in the right direction\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf enacted, it will equip Australian students with the skills they need; not just to become competent consumers of technology, but to design and create,\u201d NCSS wrote in its petition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cComputer science skills and concepts will be introduced earlier in schools.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery Australian student will learn to design and implement simple visual programs in Year 3-4, and learn a general purpose programming language in Year 7-8.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Earlier this year, the Australian Computer Society released its Australian ICT Statistical Compendium for 2011<\/a>, which revealed university ICT annual enrolments are less than half the number of a decade ago.<\/p>\n

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Boosting the number of computer science graduates is one of the top priorities of #startupAUS, which is working on a national campaign to accelerate the growth of tech start-ups.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLocal graduates in computer science have shrunk significantly over the last decade and we all agreed that it\u2019s a national imperative to fix this,\u201d a #startupAUS spokesperson said last month.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn a practical level, this means giving more high school students the opportunity to learn computer science at an earlier age and that teachers are supported.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Similarly, Posse founder Rebekah Campbell believes there needs to be a bigger emphasis on computer programming in school, particularly for female students.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I was at school all the smart kids studied French, History and Latin, so that\u2019s what I took,\u201d Campbell told StartupSmart<\/i> in March.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI would have loved to learn more about computers but I went to a girls\u2019 school and it wasn\u2019t really an option so I never thought about it as a career. I wish I could write code.\u201d<\/p>\n

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According to NCSS, students should learn to use and develop technology to solve real-world problems, and be encouraged to think entrepreneurially.<\/p>\n

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NCSS outlined four main points in its petition:<\/p>\n

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