The first trials of this curriculum update will begin already at the start of the upcoming school year
Hamburg is getting serious about fostering solid digital skills and literacy among its youngest residents. NDR reported that Computer Science will become a mandatory subject in the curriculum of that German city’s schools, starting from 2025.
However, the implementation of this educational policy in certain schools will begin even earlier – with the start of the new school year in August. Initially, these eight schools will serve as test beds for the application of this in order to study the results and tweak the curriculum accordingly in terms of lessons and timetables.
Digital literacy – not a question of choice anymore
Boosting digital literacy and programming skills and making them part of what it means to be literate in our age feels like it should be common sense when it comes to any country’s educational system – yet this is still not the reality across the board.
Hamburg’s plan is to offer four hours of computer science per week for all eighth to tenth graders. At least, this is the initial plan for the pilot phase during the new school year.
However, the total number of weekly hours is not to increase, which means that other subjects have to be cut to make up for computer science lessons. The authorities are giving the schools a free hand in this.
The change in the curriculum also means that there will be an increased demand for IT teachers in Hamburg. To be exact, 120 new educators in that sphere are already being trained in order to beef up the current workforce of 340 IT teachers.
The district schools Bergstedt and Kirchwerder, as well as the Altona, Finkenwerder, Lerchenfeld, Ohmoor, Osterbek and Rissen high schools, are the first participants in the trial phase.