1/3/2017 CIO­Asia ­ Microsoft Malaysia's WeSpeakCode even more ‘inclusive’ this year

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Microsoft Malaysia's WeSpeakCode even more ‘inclusive’ this year

AvantiKumar | April 8, 2015To reach their full potential, young people need to have an understanding of how technology works, and how to make itwork for them, says Microsoft Malaysia’s Dinesh Nair.

Photo ­ Secondary school students Code for Malaysia

Microsoft's Malaysian leg of this year's global WeSpeakCode campaign focuses on inclusiveness and reaches out todifferent groups to encourage uptake of 21st century skills, said the platform and productivity company.

More than 2,000 youths from all walks of life ­ ranging from underprivileged and disabled communities to those fromeducational institutions such as schools and universities ­ took part in Microsoft's YouthSpark #WeSpeakCode campaign,which was held for the second year running in Malaysia.

Microsoft tagged the local programme "Code for Malaysia," and organised a week­long campaign (25 March to 2 April),which included activities and events in collaboration with local schools, universities, government and non­governmentalinstitutions ­ such as Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),Taylor's University, MySkills Foundation, and YWCA Kuala Lumpur ­ to celebrate Code for Malaysia.

Microsoft Malaysia director of legal and corporate affairs, Jasmine Begum, said, "Code for Malaysia kicked off last year inMalaysia to resounding success, and we are delighted to continue our efforts to offer resources, education and skillstraining in coding to more Malaysians."

This year's theme on inclusiveness included partnering with YWCA Kuala Lumpur and United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF) ­ to extend Code for Malaysia to women and girls, and youths from the underprivileged and disabled

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communities.

"It is important that our young people understand computer science and basic programming are skills that will form thefoundation for many jobs in the future. With Code for Malaysia, we are creating real impact in Malaysia, equipping theyounger generation with 21st century skills that will propel the country towards our vision of a developed nation by 2020,"said Begum.

Photo ­ (From left) Dinesh Nair, Director of Developer Experience and Evangelism, Microsoft Malaysia; Phenny Kakama,Senior Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF; Iriani Zulkifli, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Officer, UNICEF; NicolasPron, Director, Secretary of the Executive Board, UNICEF; H.E. Ms. Laura Elena Flores Herrera, AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Panama to the United Nations; Kristel Louk, FirstSecretary, Permanent Mission of Estonia to the United Nations; Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF Representative, Malaysia;Silvester Mwanza, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Zambia to the United Nations; H.E. Sahebzada Ahmed Khan,Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan; Jasmine Begum, Legal and Corporate Affairs Director,Microsoft Malaysia; and Mandeep Kaur, Community Affairs Manager, Microsoft Malaysia.

Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF representative, Malaysia, said, "In line with UNICEF's #disable2enable campaign, we arethrilled to be working with Microsoft for Code for Malaysia ­ extending work they've done with children elsewhere to includechildren with disabilities. In doing so, it helps us promote the idea that we need to see the child before the disability andcreate opportunities for children of all abilities to grow, learn and contribute. We hope to multiply this effort in Malaysia andexport the idea to other countries in ASEAN and around the world."

Coding support   Microsoft also released results from a new Asia Pacific survey, which noted that the majority of students inMalaysia saw the value of coding in their education and future careers. (/resource/applications/coding­wanted­as­a­core­subject­in­schools­in­asia­pacific­microsoft/) However, the study also found that students feel relatively unsupported intheir interest for coding, signalling an urgent need for educators to look deeper at integrating it as a core subject in theschool curriculum.

The survey ­ conducted in February 2015 ­ polled 1,850 students under 24 years old from across eight countries in AsiaPacific, including Malaysia, on their attitudes towards coding or software programming.

According to the survey, 88 percent of students in Malaysia want to know more about coding, and 68 percent wish thatcoding could be offered as a core subject in their schools.

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Dinesh Nair, Microsoft Malaysia's director of developer experience and evangelism, said(http://computerworld.com.my/tech/applications/microsoft­malaysia­appoints­developer­and­platform­evangelist/) the studyshowed students in Malaysia were aware of the impact of technology on businesses and society ­ '74 percent of studentssaid that coding was important to their future careers, and 72 percent agreed that coding will be relevant to all careers inthe future, regardless of areas of specialisation. '

"The world is increasingly dependent on technology," said Nair. "In order to reach their full potential, young people need tohave an understanding of how technology works, and how to make it work for them. It's no different in Malaysia ­ our youthfully recognise the importance of coding as a fundamental 21st century skill and how it would prepare them for success inthe future."

"As our world continues its evolution into one that is mobile­first and cloud­first, it is important for educators in the region toseriously consider offering coding as a subject and how it can be integrated into the curriculum as soon as possible," hesaid. "Youth with 21st century skills such as coding will find themselves better qualified for new employment in all areas,not just technology. Remember, it's in the playing that the learning comes for free."

Microsoft's Begum added: "At Microsoft, we believe that code is a language that anyone can learn and computationalthinking is an essential foundational skill that should be taught in all schools ­ regardless of age, gender, or your currentfield of study. Writing code and creating a program of your own is not complicated or difficult, and more importantly, it's fun!More than 82 million people of all ages around the world already tried coding last year through the global "Hour ofCode (/resource/applications/got­an­hour­learn­to­code/)" event."