The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced coding and data sciences as skill modules in its curriculum this year, in collaboration with software giant Microsoft.
This is in accordance with last year’s National Education Policy, which recommended the introduction of coding-related activities from the middle school level, and also called for increased integration of a variety of skills into the school syllabus.
The CBSE currently offers nine such skill modules in middle school, and up to 38 skill subjects for older classes. Coding is now being introduced as a skill module with a duration of 12 hours for Classes 6-8. “The idea is to simplify the coding learning experience by nurturing design thinking, logical flow of ideas and apply this across the disciplines. The foundations laid in the early years will help the students to build the competencies in the area of AI, Data Sciences and other disciplines,” said the notification sent to all CBSE schools on June 3.
Noting the importance of giving students a solid foundation on data science and technology, a skill module of 12 hours’ duration has been introduced for Class 8 students, along with a more in-depth skill subject in Classes 9 -12. “The objective of this curriculum is to lay the foundation for Data Science, understanding how data is collected, analyzed and, how it can be used in solving problems and making decisions. It will also cover ethical issues with data including data governance and builds foundation for AI based applications of data science,” said the notification.
All student and faculty handbooks and teaching materials for the two courses have been created with support from Microsoft, covering real life examples and offering exercises and applications using the open source MakeCode platform.
The CBSE announced that it would waive the application fee for schools which wish to introduce these subjects from Class 11 onwards.