PUTRAJAYA: From January next year, computational thinking skills will be integrated into the country's school curriculum.
Announcing this today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the new Standard Based Curriculum for Primary and Standard Based Curriculum for Secondary would adopt the skill in phases.
"We will start with Primary One pupils, Form One and Form Four students next year," he told a media briefing on the #mydigitalmaker programme.
He said 1.2 million students would benefit from the move next year.
Malaysia, said Najib, became the first country in Asean to adopt computational thinking skills in its education system.
Also present were Education Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chief executive officer Datuk Yasmin Mahmood.
Najib also called on all Malaysians to support the younger generation in the move to embrace the digital economy.
"I want the children (of this nation) to think and dream big and become digital makers who can contribute to the country's digital economy," he said.
The prime minister said the decision to incorporate computational thinking and computer science into Malaysia's education system would give young generation a foundation to build their competitive edge in the fast-paced digital era.
He said the digital economy is a very lucrative sector for Malaysia, citing the example of a young Malaysian who earned about RM25,000 every month as a data scientist in Penang.