Are the French wary of digital education in schools? The latest wave of the Syntec Numérique – BVA barometer shows otherwise. Not only are the French overwhelmingly in favor of training in coding and computer programming, but they also endorse the idea of teaching it to children as early as junior high school.
Key figures: the French and learning to “code” at school
- 87% think it’s important for coding and computer programming to be taught at school, and 41% at secondary level and above.
- 49%of those who believe it is important to teach these programs see them as a way of improving computer literacy and making daily life easier.
- 70% of parents say they are ready to use educational applications to introduce their children to computer programming.
Coding and programming: an essential part of secondary education
- Nearly 90% of those surveyed consider it essential to integrate coding and programming into school learning. Over the course of their schooling, 24% would validate teaching from primary school onwards, 41% from middle school onwards, and 18% from high school onwards.
- Benefits for everyday life and professional integration
- Aware of the advantages of such teaching, the French see benefits in terms of personal use and daily life (49%), but also in terms of career (47%) and educational guidance (37%).
- Introducing new generations to this type of skill, and more broadly to digital technology – a sector that created 35,000 new jobs in 2014 – is a real opportunity for the French job market today.
Training: specialist teachers, business professionals and … parents
- Traditionally, 79% of those questioned believe that these courses should be taught by specialist digital teachers. More audaciously, 34% of French people would approve of courses being taught by industry professionals.
- In addition to these trainers, 70% of parents say they are ready to use educational applications to introduce their children to computer programming.
“Education, parents, businesses… We all have a role to play in making France a champion of new technologies. Awareness has begun, and a number of emblematic projects are underway, but we’re still a long way from matching the performance of certain neighboring countries, or even countries as far away as the United States. France has always distinguished itself by the quality of its engineers, profiles that are indispensable to our country’s economic success. Today, however, we’re short of “coders”, because computer development is not the same as engineering.
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It’s also up to the industry to explain this difference and encourage young people to learn computer language as if they were learning a living language. Syntec Numérique is at the forefront of this battle. After a digital campaign to encourage high-school students to take up IT courses, it is organizing a major event on June 4 to showcase digital talent”, comments Bruno Vanryb, President of the Publishers’ College, Syntec Numérique.
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