SINGAPORE, 8 September – Today, students and instructors from the second run of Code in the Community gathered at the Google Singapore office to celebrate the achievements of a new batch of young coders. Dr. Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Transport graced the occasion to congratulate Singapore’s future creative problem-solvers.
More than 200 students graduated from the first session of Code in the Community 2018 held from March to June this year, while close to 350 are expected to graduate from the second session by the end of this month. The 10-week programme equipped the students, who are from less-privileged backgrounds, with basic coding skills, inspiring them to imagine, invent and explore with technology from a young age.
Ang Song Wei’s Shooter Game designed on Scratch, and Gopinath Kavya’s Dragon Shuffle designed on Python
Trained in different programming languages and concepts, the students nurtured their creativity by designing and creating their own artwork, quizzes and video games. This includes eleven-year-old Ang Song Wei who created his own thrilling rendition of a Shooter Game using the visual programming language, Scratch, while 14-year-old Gopinath Kavya tested the wits of players through her word scramble game, Dragon Shuffle designed with Python, the text-based language taught during the senior class.
Stephanie Davis, Country Director, Google Singapore said: “Kids are creative problem solvers of the future, but only if they are given the right opportunities and provided with enriching exposure today. Through the Code in the Community programme, we want to foster this creative spirit among our young Singaporeans, and inspire them to imagine, invent and explore with technology from a young age. With close to 550 students graduating this year, we hope to expose more kids to technology and equip them with skills that will help prepare them for jobs of the future.”
Introduced in 2017, Code in the Community is a three-year multi-level computer science education program funded by Google, with support from Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC), Eurasian Association (EA), Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) and Yayasan Mendaki. In partnership with these four self-help groups, the initiative aims to enable 3,000 young Singaporeans from less-well-to-do backgrounds to develop computational thinking and skills, and get them excited about a future career in technology.
To make Code in the Community more accessible islandwide, we increased the number of class locations from four in 2017 to 10 in 2018 by expanding into our public libraries, allowing more children to participate in the program.
The next run of Code in the Community will commence in January 2019. Please visit www.codeinthecommunity.com to find out more on the program and its eligibility criteria.
