We invited Mr. Ukai, who is studying abroad at a university in London and researching computer education, to speak with us about the current state of programming education in England.

In the United Kingdom, Computing has been a required subject since September 2014, and all children ages 5 to 14 are learning to code.
It has been three years since the program was introduced. What have been the results? What challenges remain? A report summarizing the efforts over these three years has been released.
https://royalsociety.org/topics-poli…/…/computing-education/

This conversation took place based on the report from Mr. Ukai. Since
I was the one asking the questions, I didn’t take any notes. I expect the media will provide a comprehensive summary at a later date, so what follows are just some notes for my own reference, based on my memory ^^;

Since they posted yesterday’s materials, here are these as well.
https://www.slideshare.net/ukaiyu/ss-84121430

■General Overview
: The purpose of introducing Computing is to foster the ability to transform the world through computational thinking and creativity. While the objectives are generally the same as in Japan
, the UK has established “Computing” as a separate subject, providing a comprehensive education in computer science, information technology, and digital literacy.In reality, 80 percent of the curriculum consists of computer science (CS), and there is criticism that it is overly biased toward CS.
• What was public opinion regarding its introduction? → Before the introduction of Computing, there was a subject called “ICT” that focused on application skills; since ICT had a poor reputation, opposition to Computing was not particularly strong.Since the number of class hours is simply a replacement for ICT, there is no impact on other
subjects.
• One hour per week is allocated to Computing, but what is the reality? → Although not mentioned in the report, in reality, the subject has not been widely adopted. The number of hours is left to the discretion of individual schools, and some schools have not implemented it at all.

■Background of Making CS Mandatory.
• In 2008, the CAS was established through a collaboration between industry, government, and academia to promote computing education. It plays a central role in making CS mandatory. Ms. Sue has led the organization from its founding to the present.
・Eric Schmidt’s remark that “Computing education in the UK is too heavily biased toward using software and does not teach how it is created” resonated deeply, leading the Royal Society to issue a recommendation to revitalize CS education.
*CANVAS has long been mindful of CAS and has been exploring ways to build a platform for programming education in Japan.We then held a joint press conference with Eric Schmidt to launch PEG. At that time, Eric stated, “Japan has not become a leader in the field of software. Starting programming in one’s teens and increasing opportunities to engage with computer science will be the first step toward change.”

■Classes, Teaching Materials, etc
. • Are there any systematically organized teaching materials or lesson plans? → Several educational publishers offer them. The most popular is “Switched on Computing” by Rising Stars. According to Mr. Ukai’s colleagues
, “How to Teach Primary Programming Using Scratch (UBP)” is the best-designed
resource.
・In elementary schools, 38% of classes use Scratch; in junior high schools, 21% use Python and 19% use Scratch.
・The one million Microbits that were distributed are not being used.
・Teachers are actively sharing lesson plans on discussion boards provided by organizations such as CAS.

■Evaluation
: The focus tends to be on knowledge and skills. Evaluating factors such as attitude is quite difficult.
Another challenge is that there aren’t many researchers in the field of customer service education.

■External Partnerships: There are no formal partnerships with external organizations such as companies or groups in the classroom
. However, there are company visits and similar activities.
・There is a foundation for creating schools that engage the local community.
・Extracurricular activities related to computing are held at 62% of elementary schools and 77% of middle schools. Of these, 80% of elementary schools and 77% of middle schools operate computing clubs every week after school
. *This is where the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ Regional IoT Clubs come in!*

■Three-Year Summary
: • It has been pointed out that programming education in the UK is patchwork and fragile. • One piece of data illustrating
this is that only 11% of students chose “Computing” for their GCSE exams—the equivalent of Japan’s National Center Test for University Admissions. The top reason cited was “lack of interest.”
・Other issues cited include gender disparities, a shortage of teachers, insufficient support for teachers, and a lack of evidence-based policy-making.
・In particular, the shortage of teachers and the lack of support, such as teacher training programs, are significant problems.

■Future Developments: Following the release of the
above report, the British government announced that it would invest approximately 15 billion yen in teacher training for computer science
. *There is a gap compared to the amount in Japan…

Mr. Ukai, thank you so much for your valuable insights!
To Ryuji and everyone at Microsoft, thank you for accommodating this last-minute event!
And to everyone at CANVAS, thanks for all your hard work yesterday ♡