Digi and its Future Skills for All partners kick off coding challenge for school

‍Digi and its Future Skills for All partners kick off coding challenge for schoolchildren

#BolehCode initiative formed to ensure digital future-readiness among the younger generation

SUBANG JAYA, 8 SEPTEMBER 2021 – Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) together with itsFuture Skills for All (FS4A) programme partners Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), UnitedNations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Arus Academy (ARUS) are inviting Malaysian students to participate in its ‘#BolehCode Coding Challenge’. Recently launched as part of the #BolehCode initiative, this contest aims to cultivate interest in digital skills among younger generation.

The contest is divided into two categories - Primary 3-6 students will compete in Micro:bit Makecode challenge while Secondary 1-4 students will compete in HTML, Python and SQL challenges.Participants stand a chance to win prizes worth up to RM20,000.

The contest kickstarts with state-level rounds from 13-17September 2021 and will culminate with the national level challenge from 4-15October 2021. Digi, alongside its FS4A partners, also launched its Kempen Duduk Rumah, a series of online workshops and interview sessions with industry professionals to guide students for this upcoming challenge.

Interested students or schools can get more information on the contest and how to register here https://arus.cc/pekmaklumat-pertandingan-bolehcode.

Inculcating future skills in the next generation

The #BolehCode initiative aims to increase awareness on the importance of digital skills and to adopt coding as a fundamental skill. The activities include short coding lessons on TikTok@gurufutureskills, school holiday programmes, workshops for teachers, certification programmes and coding competitions that are endorsed Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia.

Digi’s Head of Sustainability, Philip Ling, said, “Through the #BolehCodeinitiative, we intend to spark the interest of coding among Malaysian school children. In this digital age, it is imperative that all our younger generation are given equal opportunity to upskill and be future-ready through accessible and intuitive learning materials. We hope more like-minded organisations would join us on this programme.”

Aligned to Digi’s Yellow Heart commitment towards digital resilience and inclusion, the learning materials and tutorials will be available for schoolchildren and teachers in multiple languages including sign language. Progressively, new content on Year 6 Design and Technology (Reka Bentuk dan Teknologi)subject will be added to the coding syllabus. Offline kits comprising booklets and videos in thumb drive will also be available for wider accessibility for all communities.

FS4A programme, which commenced in 2020 has enrolled over20,000 students and teachers to-date, and it is aspired to rapidly scale-up the reach through this #BolehCode initiative.  

Sparking interest in coding nationwide

This initiative kickstarted in July through #PerlisBolehCode in collaboration with Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri (JPN) Perlis. A total of 241 teachers took part in this 5-day webinar course, which include coding workshops using Micro:bitand HTML webpage creation.

Speaking at the #PerlisBolehCode launch, Director of Perlis State Education Department, Encik Naharudeen binOthman, reiterated the importance of adopting coding knowledge within the education curriculum. “We need to make coding our next language and realise its importance in preparing our schoolchildren for the future. This needs to start early, and the necessary interventions such as teachers’ training and intuitive learning tools and materials should be made available to bring these efforts to fruition. I urge all teachers and students in Perlis to adopt coding and to further develop competencies in this area. This will be essential for human capital development and contribute to the future growth of key economic sectors in Perlis and Malaysia.”  

FS4A isa part of the Telenor Group’s global partnership with UNICEF, to equipMalaysian schoolchildren with digital skillsets through various initiatives.

Digi has also distributed micro:bits quick start kit boxes to its 132 Pusat Internet Komuniti nationwide last year to provide greater access to digital learning tools for schoolchildren from underserved communities.

For more information on Digi’s Future Skills for All programme, visit http://futureskills.moe-dl.edu.my/

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