Victorian public and Catholic schools will next week adopt the new compulsory Digital Technologies curriculum, which will see students learn to code, gather and interpret data, and solve real-world problems.
It follows the application of the national curriculum in the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia, with the rest of the states to follow by the end of 2018, a spokesperson from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority told Fairfax Media .
The training also includes the development of computer apps and games to solve real-world problems, as students in grade five and six design a robot vacuum cleaner to clean their classrooms, while Year 9 and 10 focus on resolving security issues in software.
Speaking to Fairfax Media, the Victorian Government said schools were given $21.6 million last year to assisting them in applying changes to the curriculum.
The Education Department said government funding would go towards 10 digital coding specific teachers to assist other teachers.
Education Minister James Merlino said 75 per cent of new jobs require science and maths, and the new curriculum would help teach these skills.
“Coding is basically computer language. Every smart phone app, every website, every computer program, every calculator, microwaves … everything relies on code. So basically, you’re learning step by step instructions to get a computer to do what you want it to do,” he said.
“We need every student in Victorian learning this new language.”
