Here’s the final call for the parents who receive financial aid from the Ministry of Education to enroll their children for the free coding classes sponsored by Google.
While talking about the programme, Google Singapore spokesperson said, “We hope this helps diverse young Singaporeans to develop computational/computer science skills and inspire them – and their parents – to pursue a future career in technology.”
Google made the announcement at the official opening of their new office in Mapletree Business City II, Singapore on November 2016. From just 24 Googlers in an office in Collyer Quay in 2007, the company’s head-count has reached 1,000.
The 48 classes that will be held across four community centres – Canberra Zone 7 RC, Henderson CC, Hong Kah North CC and the Singapore Indian Development Association (Sinda) headquarters – are for children aged 8 to 15. The programme called Code aims to create next generation of technology innovators.
Course duration and prospects
8-11-year-olds: An hour-long class will take place for two 1-week-long-terms. The first batch of students will be able to complete their programme by Sept 3. By the end of a 20-week programme, 8-11-year-olds will reportedly be able to recreate a frogger-style arcade game and develop a search game to hunt for hidden treasure through software programme – Scratch.
12 to 15-year-olds: This age group will learn to code using Python, a popular programme used for a high-level programming language. The course also includes a visit to the Google Singapore office where children and their parents can meet Googlers and talk to them about their routine work.
In the three years, Google aims to teach coding to 3,000 children from needy homes. The emphasis lies on including more and more girl child.
The classes will be held by 21C Girls, a charity that develops and delivers free coding classes to girls in Singapore.