Students from the age of as little as 5, will take coding classes to prepare for jobs of the future!

From the start of the 2019/2020 academic year, one hour of IT programming lessons is introduced for all pupils aged 5–16. 

This is one of the flagship e-education measures in the “Extended Monaco, Smart Principality programme” launched by H.S.H. Prince Albert II on 30 April 2019. 

Monaco Launches Coding In School

Developing pupils’ skills in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects is essential to prepare them for future employment in the digital transformation sector. Nurturing children’s ability to create content using a computer language as early as possible is vital. 

Learning how to code in a computer language is not the only goal of these new lessons, however. Studying programming is also an excellent way of developing the skills that will be critical in tomorrow’s society: creativity, problem-solving, interpersonal communication and teamwork, the ability to adapt, and so on. 

An IT programming curriculum has therefore been launched for all pupils from the final year of nursery school (Grande Section) through to Year 10 (3ème), a total of 2,500 pupils. 

At the age of five, the educational robot Bee-Bot is used to introduce children to programming. 

At ages six and seven, pupils use Blue-Bot, a robot which offers the same functionality as Bee-Bot, but can also be programmed remotely via Bluetooth using a software application installed on a tablet. 

Pupils aged eight learn to code using a multicoloured LED wristband, while every nine- and ten-year-old will be given a Micro:bit card – a programmable electronic card which can be used for all sorts of things. 

This is one of the flagship e-education measures in the Extended Monaco, Smart Principality programme launched by H.S.H. Prince Albert II on 30 April 2019.

At secondary school (ages 11–15), programming is taught through a number of subjects: for example, the time devoted to programming with Scratch software during maths lessons has been doubled. In technology, there are numerous sequences that require pupils to program using a variety of software packages and digital tools. Physics, chemistry, history, geography and life and earth sciences teachers are also involved in the initiative. 

Tests are also being run in parallel, including using Minecraft software. 

In Year 11 (Seconde), at age 16, all pupils learn Python. 

Teachers have received training on IT programming and resources have been made available to help them create lesson content. 

In addition, from the start of this academic year, all teachers will have access to training modules on learning programming via the Monaco Digital Academy, the Monegasque Government’s e-learning platform.