Career-Interrupted Women Transform into Coding Specialist Village Instructors

Seoul Jung-gu Operates Coding Classes Visiting Schools... 10 Village Instructors Conduct Coding Lessons for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students Until December This Year

Daegyeong Technical High School Coding Classroom

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Seo Yang-ho) is operating a 'Coding Classroom Visiting Schools' program for elementary, middle, and high school students in the district.

The coding instructors are the 'Kkumirum Instructor Group,' a parent group who completed the SW Coding Convergence Education Specialist Course at the Jung-gu Women's New Employment Center for career-interrupted women and are currently active as community instructors.

Software (SW) education became mandatory starting from the first grade of middle school in 2018, and from 2019, SW education was newly introduced in the practical subjects for 5th and 6th graders in elementary school, requiring students to take courses in algorithms and programming.

As computer education, which was previously focused on usage, has shifted to coding education?the foundation of software production?demand for coding instructors in schools has exploded. Recently, among parents, there is even a joke about 'Korean, English, Math, and Coding' highlighting the growing importance of coding education.

Accordingly, the district is nurturing career-interrupted women as coding instructors to take responsibility for students' coding education.

The Kkumirum Instructor Group, consisting of 10 community instructors, is linked with six local schools including Cheonggu Elementary School, Deoksu Middle School, and Daegyeong Commercial High School, where they will conduct coding classes for about 650 students by December this year.

They have developed various curriculums tailored to students' levels, teaching Entry, drone coding, autonomous driving, CoSpaces, VR, Scratch, and more, providing programs that enable students to learn coding independently and develop problem-solving skills, creativity, and concentration.

This coding classroom program is adopted and operated as a regular curriculum or a free semester program at schools.

The district supports the budget required for education, including instructor fees, software rental fees, textbooks, and equipment.

Nam Yoon-ji (female, 42), an instructor teaching block coding at Daegyeong Middle School, said, "Although I majored in computer science, coding was a different field I had not encountered before, so the learning process was quite interesting. I am very happy to have the opportunity to stand on the podium through this project, and seeing students show curiosity and actively participate has given me pride in my job."

Last year, the district operated the visiting coding classroom program both online and offline for 440 elementary and middle school students in six schools, receiving great responses from students.

Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, "I hope that through the activities of the Kkumirum Instructor Group, students will discover hidden talents in the SW field and grow into creative talents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.