Communications of the ACM
When It Comes to Teaching Coding, China's Parents Won't Get With the Program
The Chinese government wants to cultivate programming skills in children, but parents are reluctant to encourage it.
Credit: Bloomberg
The Chinese government wants to cultivate programming skills in children, but parents are reluctant to encourage it while the education ministry's plan to establish national standards for science, technology, engineering, and math education and provide teacher training and other tools is challenging.
Venture capitalist Zhang Lijun says this is understandable, as coding, unlike English and math, is not yet a critical subject tested in Chinese college entrance exams.
A Peking University survey of more than 40,000 families found Chinese families spent $298.3 billion on pre- through secondary-school education for the 2016-2017 school year, with 33% going to extracurricular tutoring courses such as English and math.
Shenzhen Dianmao Technology CEO Li Tianchi says more parents have to understand that coding has become as vital an area for upward mobility and economic success in China as knowing English.
"Learning to code isn't about becoming a programmer," he contends. "It's the key to the future."
From The Wall Street Journal
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