Tech education essential to help Caribbean youth create future

TECH EVENT – Increasing the competitiveness of T&T’s software industry should be a priority for the sustainable development of the nation’s nascent information technology (IT) sector. This was the call from Bevil Wooding, Executive Director of BrightPath Foundation.

Wooding was speaking at an interview after the closing ceremony of TechCamp 2014, a two-week technology education camp targeting 10 to 15 year olds.

“Software development is an essential skill for the digital generation. Education in the fundamentals coding helps us secure our place in the technology-based economies of the future.”

Countries like the UK, India, South Korea, Japan and China put a high premium on teaching computer programming to students, he said.

“Technology education is viewed as a critical part of the diversification of their economies and the safeguarding of future growth opportunities. Countries in the Caribbean have to step up training in software and technology education in primary, secondary and tertiary levels.” More