The introduction of coding enrichment classes for all upper primary pupils next year will facilitate their coming of age in the digital economy. The objective is not to create programmers, although some might choose that course. But exposing pupils to basic skills, and what the digital economy has in store, has the added benefit of helping to develop their capacity for problem solving and logical thinking. Singapore’s future lies in an economy where every business needs to be digitally ready, every worker has digital skills, and every citizen is similarly equipped and connected. One way to achieve that is to expose young Singaporeans to the skill sets needed to seize opportunities in the new economy.

This is a national imperative. A contributor to a World Economic Forum report declared that schools must teach computer science as part of the core curriculum to prepare students for the future. Coding is a part of that science, which ultimately is about computational thinking, interface design, data analysis, machine learning, cyber security, networking and robotics. Learning computer science is relevant to every career in all economies. Interestingly, when students were queried on how they felt about their classes, computer science and engineering came behind only the arts in terms of classes that they liked the most. Quite evidently, the young like what will prepare them for the future.