The MCA, in a joint initiative with the eLearning Department within the Ministry for Education and Employment, drove a nationwide initiative during which just over 40 schools across Malta and Gozo participated in a number of activities where an estimated 6000 students immersed themselves into the basic principal of coding to mark the ‘Hour of Code’ - a global initiative that aims to demystify coding and raise awareness on the opportunities that computer science can present.
During one particular event held at St. Clare Primary School, Pembroke, a number of stations were set up with plugged and unplugged coding activities for students aged between 8 and 10. During a visit to this event, the Hon Minister Emmanuel Mallia delivered words of encouragement to the young coders after putting his coding skills to the test and wrote a short programme that controlled a robot that was on site. The Minister stressed that events such as this should not be the only coding event held throughout the year. He emphasised the importance of instilling an interest in coding from a young age in order to build the necessary capacity for future industries that are increasingly dependent on technology.
Dr Edward Woods, Chairman at the MCA complimented the close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and extended his gratitude to Ms Cynthia Aquilina, the Head of School for her full support in making the day’s activity such a success. Dr Woods noted that such cooperation is clearly creating synergies between entities resulting in far more positive outputs. He stressed that no single entity can bridge the digital divide in society alone, and it is only through collaborative efforts that we can aim higher and achieve even better results.
This coding event was additionally endorsed by European MP’s; Dr Miriam Dalli and Dr Roberta Metsola, who earlier this year have made official visits to the MCA during which they have both commended MCA’s efforts to promote coding amongst school children. Both MEP’s have further supported this initiative by sending a recorded messages in which they have lauded the effort and encouraged the young coders who participated, to engage in more similar coding activities.
The Authority will continue to invest time and resources in disseminating awareness on the importance of computational thinking amongst school children through a number of initiatives in the year ahead and invites entities to contact it directly should it wish to collaborate or contribute in this regard.