On road to robotics

NEW SCHOOL SUBJECTS: DIFFERENT GRADIENTS FOR ACCESSIBILITY

- Hein Kaiser

Exponential technologies provide great opportunities - Singularity SA.

Technology is the language of the future and if the education system doesn't embrace it, the next generation will be left behind as the rest of the world moves into a new reality. A world wrapped in binary code and artificial intelligence.

This is why the department of basic education's recent announcement that coding and robotics will now be included as subjects for Grades R-9 marks a significant shift in the country's approach to education.

But what exactly does it mean and, with South Africa's history of what critics have alluded to as haphazard implementation it might look good on paper now, but it needs all hands on deck to get it off the drawing board.

Mic Mann, co-chief executive of Singularity South Africa, said that it is a step in the right direction. "Embracing exponential technologies provides greater opportunities for our youth. Historically, many of the world's most renowned innovators had access to modern technologies, from electricity to computers, and we want our youth to have that same access."