<Anchor>



Recently, Korean universities are making coding education compulsory regardless of major.

Already over 50.

It is said that the so-called 'computing thinking ability' is connected with the creativity of future generations, but there are few opportunities to learn in elementary, middle, and high schools.



Correspondent Kim Kyung-hee.



<Reporter>



Set the commands on the screen as you want according to the teacher's guidance.



Set the color of the lights, adjust the speed of the flight, and you're ready to launch the rocket.



In school, you only learn coding concepts on the screen, but at this local children's center, you can connect it to a circuit and launch rockets and even fly drones.



[Jimin Kim / 4th grader: I was able to code, put in numbers, and move as I entered, so I was very surprised.] In



the current curriculum, information education such as coding is 17 hours in 5th and 6th grades of elementary school , middle school students learn 34 hours.



The creative coding activity, which was difficult with this amount of time, was carried out with the support of a social enterprise, and the satisfaction of parents is high.



[Jang Hyang-mi / Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do: There is still no universal (coding) education in schools, so I want to learn so much, but I do not have the ability that education at home can provide...

.]



The compulsory class hours are only 51 hours for 12 years in elementary, middle, and high schools, which is far less compared to 374 hours in the UK, 256 hours in India and 212 hours in China.



In particular, in high schools, because it is not an official subject and is not included in the entrance exam, nearly 30% of schools do not even have a teacher in charge, and only 70% of these teachers have qualifications.



In the 2022 revision curriculum, which will be applied from 2025, new technology fields such as artificial intelligence and big data were mentioned, but they are optional, not mandatory.



[Kim Jae-hyun / Dean of Sungkyunkwan University Teachers' College: If subject A becomes compulsory, the number of hours of other subjects should be reduced, and teachers' adjustment is also necessary.

That's why they bite each other like gears...

.]



In the United States, more and more states are designating computer science, including coding, as a compulsory subject for high school graduation, and Japan has decided to include it as a common subject in the college entrance exam from 2025.



To close the digital divide through universal information education.



[Kim Soo-hwan/Professor, Chongshin University (Vice President, Korean Society of Computer Education): Can you imagine that much or amplify your creativity?

When it comes to understanding academics, developing certain competencies, or accumulating further, the starting point is different, so this friend can't keep up...

.]



Nearly half of the respondents said that the reason they went to a private academy for coding or software education was that they could not learn it in public education.



At this rate, there is a warning that our society could suffer polarization due to digital illiteracy.



(Video coverage: Kim Won-bae, Park Jin-ho, Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho)