An hour of coding lessons per week is one of the innovations that have been introduced for the 2019/2020 academic year, making Monaco the first country to teach all pupils, from nursery through to lower secondary, how to code.
The goal behind this measure, which has been driven by the Extended Monaco programme, is to prepare future generations for the world of tomorrow.
The lessons develop the skills that are essential for today’s society, including creativity, communication, teamwork and the ability to adapt
They also provide an opportunity to put into practice a number of the mathematical and grammatical principles taught in other subjects.
To teach children this new language – which is much like learning a modern language – the curriculum makes use of educational robots and electronic cards, depending on the audience. Trials are also being conducted with, for example, Minecraft software.
The philosophy behind this teaching is also to help children understand the limitations and undesirable effects of digital technology.
“Today, digital is often presented in terms of the divides it provokes: there are those who are ‘for’ it and those who are ‘against’ it. But the digital world is neither a hell nor a paradise. It is a new world which it is up to us to build,” says Isabelle Bonnal, Director of Education, Youth and Sport.
The learn to code programme covers 2,700 pupils from the final year of nursery school through to Year 10 (3ème), and will soon be extended to older students at the country’s lycées.
