HT Codeathon: Coding need of the hour in today's digital era

As a team of innovative educators , we have always taken initiatives to promote the culture of augmenting diverse technical skills in students. Goenkans are always given the autonomy to explore, talk, think, try, imagine, make choices, relax, undertake challenges, invent, discover, learn and, above all, be themselves. We expose children to innumerable activities and we try to recognise the ones which the child is naturally gravitating towards. Our school firmly believes that in this digital competitive era, coding is the need of the hour as it helps youth to seek solutions to complex problems in a simpler manner, enhancing their cognitive, computation, problem solving and logical thinking skills. As a matter of fact, coding needs a learner to be perseverant and resilient. Coding is the language best suited to meet the needs of the future generations as it not only ensures that they are creative and adaptive but also makes learning a fun-filled activity.Coding is all about creating something new. By grasping the ability to code, the students learn to make the best use of their creativity and to come up with their own innovative novel ideas to solve problems. We are pleased to be a part of HT Codeathon which provides a versatile platform to students to be self-motivated and learn coding. Thereafter, they will get an opportunity to showcase their talent as innovative coders. We appreciate the fact that in these unprecedented times, when education is passing through a transitional phase, HT has stepped forward to channelise the creativity and calibre of young Goenkans in a meaningful direction. We earnestly hope that all the aspirants of Codeathon perform well and learn the lessons of life. Coding is of supreme importance in the current context and it is a skill set that is required for the students to succeed in the 21st Century. It's a skill set that is essential to be successful not just in school or career but beyond as a lot of opportunities are available for coders in the current scenario. Most of skill sets that are required for the current jobs would be obsolete in a few years and coding is still a growing skill with emerging opportunities. Learning coding at an early age will allow the students to prepare for jobs that don't even exist in the current market scenario. Rima C Ailawadi (HT Photo) Rima C Ailawadi, Principal, GD Goenka Public School, Model Town'Coding is a 21st-century skill'The National Educational Policy 2020 aims to make coding as the future-generation skill for students that will be required the most in jobs. Incorporation of coding will result in creation of 'Digital Education Ecosystem'. Coding is a 21st-century skill and every student must be familiar with it from early childhood to have an impact on bridging the gap between digital literacy and affordability. The objective of coding is to foster creativity, and imagination in young minds; inculcate skills such as design mind set, computational thinking, adaptive learning and leadership and much required life skills like problem solving, critical thinking, leadership, communication and collaboration. HT Codeathon will help children compete and learn at the same time. Dedicated webinar on coding has turned out fruitful for they were able to explain parents and students in detail about the coding programme. Our world today is being shaped by AI – from Edtech to Foodtech to LegalTech and AgriTech. Coding helps to blossom every single unit of a child's brain whether being logical thinking, art integration, or analytical thinking. It enables children to enter the world of new-age technology. It is important that every student embraces 'coding' in its full glory. Dr Sudha Acharya (HT Photo) Dr Sudha Acharya, Principal, ITL Public School, DwarkaCoding is fast becoming the 'language of the future'. Just as a child's brain picks up and integrates different nuances of a new language, one can learn coding easily with proper guidance and training. The trick is to start early. Building those early brain circuits not only improves the natural tendency for language and logic but also lays a solid foundation for future knowledge. HT Codeathon is an excellent coding platform for students to show skills and learn how to code. The school teachers also motivate the students with zeal. Coding promotes algorithmic thinking, fosters creativity in a fun way and makes children confident problem-solvers. In addition, students also learn to create things, bring mathematics in action and inculcate skills like collaboration, communication & leadership. Coding has many benefits. It gives a formidable thrust to a child's creative thinking. Neelam Roy (HT Photo) Neelam Roy, HOD (IT), ITL Public School, DwarkaCodeathon is a wonderful initiative to help students not only learn and apply coding but also to develop some life-enhancing skills. Coding helps students understand how programming technology works and how and where it is applied in today's world. It also helps us enhance our technical skill capability. Coding builds skills that develop our cognitive thinking. Developing our problem-solving skills, increasing our thinking capabilities and helping us make our minds sharper are among its many benefits. We can also consider it as a new subject different from the subjects we study in school. It also helps us think logically which prepares our minds to think structurally and analytically. I am looking forward to attending Codeathon classes Vivaan Bangia (HT Photo) Vivaan Bangia, Class 9, GD Goenka Public School, Model Town