On behalf of Deputy Premier and Education Minister Gordon Wyant; Saskatoon University MLA Eric Olauson announced today new coding and robotics opportunities for middle years and high school students in Saskatchewan, which will ensure classrooms are meeting the needs of 21st century students.
In response to requests from the education and tech sector stakeholders, robotics curricula that incorporates coding will be developed in the area of provincial Practical and Applied Arts. These elective courses will be available to all Saskatchewan high schools, while middle years (Grades 7-9) teachers can also introduce students to coding and robotics.
In the fall 2017, a Practical and Applied Arts Reference Committee was formed to provide direction and later recommended that coding and robotics courses be developed.
A writing team, made up of teacher experts and ministry consultants, will begin developing robotics courses that incorporate coding this spring with the goal of piloting them in the 2018-19 school year.
The writing team will use locally developed secondary robotics courses approved for use in Saskatchewan schools as guides for the province-wide curriculum.
During the 2016-17 school year, Legislative Secretary Lisa Lambert met with education sector stakeholders throughout the province to obtain feedback regarding curriculum renewal. As a result of her consultation, the Ministry of Education restarted curriculum renewal processes for a number of areas.