Brilliant code teaching pioneers

Last week I wrote about how important it is to teach coding to children at an early age. It is really not a necessity to get a head but rather a must to not be left behind.  Turkey’s strong suit is not innovation and if we fail to teach our children how to code, it will never be. 

With advancements in the technology industry, all industries are changing. And this change is happening right now. That’s why companies like Siemens is pioneering the concept “Industry 4.0.” They know that Industry 4.0 is changing the world and it is changing it for the better. We will be able to produce more with less and we will be able to produce with flexibility, allowing us to produce custom goods as easily as producing mass orders. 

But there is a catch. In order for us to be able to do that, we need people who can code. It is not enough for Siemens to build a factory that can almost run itself. We need people to run it even better. 

Therefore, any person or institution teaching coding is very dear to me and to this country. There are already some pioneers in this field and I wish there were more. 

First, Maker Kids should be mentioned as its founder, Ongun Tan, quit his prestigious job at Turkcell to be a proud owner of a startup that is focused on establishing a culture of innovation in Turkey. He knew that culture is not something that you can buy and he knew that a strong grass roots movement would start by educating the young. Therefore, days after he established the Makers Lab in Istanbul, he started Maker Kids as well. Maker Kids is teaching children how to code. They have lessons in Robert College Alumni Association and some other schools. Maker Kids teaches kids not only coding but designing and entrepreneurship as well. There is already a ten-year-old who has his own marketable product among the alumni. 

Science and Technology Minister Fikri Işık said there could be mandatory coding class in schools next year but some schools like Erkan Ulu High School have already adopted the new reality. They are teaching coding and robotics already. 

As the number of initiatives and schools that teach coding increases, so will our GDP.