By Ritika Mahajan and Monica Sareen

If I do not enrol my child in a coding class, will she miss something important? Will coding significantly improve her analytical ability? Is it a necessary skill for the future? Are there disadvantages to teaching coding at a very young age? Do the pros outweigh the cons or vice-versa? If you are trying to answer any of these questions like me, this blog may help.

While searching online whether we should enrol Anandini, our five-year-old daughter, for a coding class or not, we found extreme viewpoints. While some support the idea, others view it as unnecessary or even damaging. Provoked as a mom and boggled as a researcher by contradictory opinions, I started my own research with the help of my student, Monica Sareen. Over the next few weeks, we interviewed IT experts, educators and parents on the issue. We looked at companies offering coding packages, profiles of their teachers, and previously published information on the net. The key points are as follows. 

To begin with, what is coding? 

As per the Cambridge dictionary, code is the language used to give instructions to the computer. In simple words, coding is the skill of writing computer programmes. Many EdTech companies offer coding classes for kids starting from class 1 to 12. To put in perspective, the minimum age for admission to class 1 in India is mostly six years. Does that mean that a six-year-old child will start writing computer programs? Not really.

What's really being taught?

We looked through packages offered, talked to a few trainers and found that coding here is a misnomer. What is taught is either introduction to basic coding terminology or coding applications rather than writing programs from scratch. Dr Ashish Tripathi, Assistant Professor at MNIT Jaipur, shared with us, "The basic foundation of coding is mathematics and physics. If the foundation is strong, one can learn to code easily. To go the other way round is illogical." He added that sometimes even BTech graduates are unable to write computer programs, especially from streams other than computer science.

Cost of Coding Classes and Teachers' Profiles 

After browsing through different websites, we found that the cost of these classes ranges from 6-8k INR for introductory packages to more than 1 lakh INR for the advanced ones. One company charges 800 INR per class, while another offers 144 lessons for 1,14,899 INR. Salaries of teachers, primarily women working from home, are between 20k to 70k depending on the educational background and company size. While computer science graduates are preferred, candidates with other degrees, including arts, commerce, and management, are also hired. 

Claims and Counterclaims

Most companies claim that children start developing applications within a few weeks. Prashant Jakhar, an IT professional and an engineer by qualification, helped us review the applications shared by a leading company. Most of these applications had 0 downloads, and some had ratings as low as 2.5. "It takes many experienced and trained minds to come together to create a revenue-generating application", he said. Vaibhav, a government employee, an engineer by training, and a father to a five-year-old daughter, suggested, "Coding is just a language. The child must know what to write rather than only knowing the writing rules. That is more important and requires logic."

Many online articles claim that coding is mandatory as per the New Education Policy (NEP). We browsed through the NEP draft and found that it mentions "activities involving coding will be introduced in the middle stage", i.e. from class 6 onward. The NEP prioritised foundational literacy and numeracy skills by class 3 and holistic and multi-disciplinary education by teaching life skills, language, creativity, ethics, and technology use. The policy does not mandate coding or declare it a necessary skill. In fact, forcing all the kids to learn to code will be against the essence of the NEP. Prashant said, "Our generation was lured into engineering with promises of high paying jobs. What engineering was to us, coding is to our next-gen. We are in a similar boat of a different colour."

In 2021, Neelesh Misra, writer, storyteller and founder of the Slow Movement, wrote an article on this issue in the New York Times. It garnered more than 1000 responses. Interestingly, more than 50 percent of people supporting the idea that kids don't need to learn coding were software developers or IT experts. 

Opinion of Educators 

The educators are divided on the issue. We talked to Anshita Gupta, Director of Sun India Pre-School Jaipur, who believes it is good to introduce coding vocabulary through videos and games. But a balanced perspective is necessary. "Screen time and spending time outdoors must co-exist in a child's routine. If we attach ourselves to technology, we should know how to detach to create a healthy balance", she said. Piya Mukherjee, Director at Vivekanand Education Society's Leadership Academy and Research Centre, Mumbai, shared a different perspective. "We must try that our children become conscious citizens to save the planet. This is essential. If coding improves analytical ability, music, Sanskrit and playing in the park also do. In the initial years, restricting children to computer screens is detrimental to their growth. The opportunity cost of this time is too high." She also raised the issue of the lack of legislation for advertisements directed at our children.

So what is the point? 

There are many free coding platforms to explore a child's interest but forceful feeding, a mandate and uniformity may not help. Our children may find jobs in the future if they can write computer programs. But they also need to live a life surviving competition, struggle, sadness, betrayal, and heartbreak - a life where they make their own decisions. 

Francis Laleman, who worked with children and adults on new and innovative pedagogies for more than 40 years in India and abroad, told us, "We need to create spaces for our children. A kindergarten with a toy corner, a reading corner, an activity corner, a sports corner can also have a coding corner. We need to devise new ways of learning, but we need to let our kids make their choices."

It may be easier for some of us with more privileged backgrounds to denounce coding and support our kids in unconventional routes. It may seem challenging for some of us to ignore coding classes, just like coaching classes. When we were growing up in the 90s, bank PO (probationary officer) was a classic middle-class dream; somewhat more achievable than the IIT dream. Are bank POs from our generation the happiest lot? Not sure? This explains a lot.

As parents, my husband and I are constantly flooded with information ranging from the noodles to the classes we should buy for our daughter. Last week, we gave in and enrolled her for a demo coding session. The teacher told us, "She does not have the basic knowledge of directions. Although there are children who pick up very well at this age, she is not that sharp." I smirked, and my daughter reacted very sharply, "Close this, Mumma, I don't like it." And that is how we made our decision.

Now published at: https://www.thebetterindia.com/275433/coding-for-children-online-classes-benefits-parenting-tips/