HT code-a-thon 2021: Coding made easy for kids
Coding is an essential 21st century skill that is now included in school curricula too. Apart from widening career prospects, this programming language benefits kids in more way than one. Starting from improving their problem-solving skill to enhancing their logical reasoning capacity, coding does it all for your little ones. Keeping this in mind, Hindustan Times launched its first coding initiative, Code-a-thon, last year in October along with the Delhi government. This coding Olympiad, meant for middle and high school students was designed to promote web learning skills among them and provide free access to coding courses for the underprivileged children.
The second edition of HT Code-a-thon, India’s largest coding platform, kicked off today. This initiative will allow school students to learn coding concepts and showcase their talents at a national-level competition. This 4-month-programme is divided in three phases: The learning phase, which is supposed to continue till the last week of November, the qualifier round, which will take place in the last week of November and the finals, which are scheduled for the third week of December. IBM and SpeEdLabs, an AI-based practice and learning platform, have joined hands with Hindustan Times for this coding Olympiad.
HT Code-a-thon: Who is it for?
This initiative has been structured in a very age-appropriate manner for pupils of three age groups:
Students of classes 4 and 5 (aged 9-10 years): They will learn app development
Students of classes 6 and 7 (aged 11-12 years): They will learn website designing
Students of classes 8 and 9 (aged 13-14 years): They will learn game development
Course duration
Each course is self-paced and divided into several modules:
App development: 12 modules, 20 hours, 50 minutes per session
Game development course: 26 modules, 24 hours, 60 minutes per session
Web designing: 26 modules, 24 hours, 60 minutes per session
How to apply?
The process of registering for the code-a-thon is quite simple. All you have to do is register your child here by paying INR 500+GST. Post registration, the participants can access their age-appropriate modules and course materials.
How does Code-a-thon work?
After completion of the learning phase, students will move on to the qualifier round at the end of November. The top 600 students from the qualifier round will be allowed to participate in the final round. The qualified participants will compete for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranks. They will be divided into 2 zones: North and South. Three students from each zone and each cohort will finish in the top 3. Hence, there will be a total of 18 winners.
What are the prizes?
Each and every code-a-thon participant will get a certificate while the top three will get exciting prizes along with HT media coverage. Here are the prize details:
1st prize: Laptops
2nd prize: Tablets + Smartwatches
3rd prize: Tablets