New Delhi: When Ayesha Khatri, now 10, was learning to build mobile apps in an online coding course two years ago, her software developer parents beamed with pride. Now, they don’t see the point and skip classes.
They are not alone. Several parents ThePrint spoke to said they have disowned their children from popular coding-for-kids platforms such as WhiteHat Jr, CampK12 and others because they no longer see the value.
It was a few years ago when coding became a thing for kids all fad, With schools closed due to the pandemic, many parents believed that learning coding from home would give their kids a useful tech skill. There was also the question of keeping up with peers who signed up for such classes.
Fueling the craze were ambitious ads that promised parents that coding lessons could help their child make next mark zuckerberg or be one TEDx Speakers At the age of seven. At least for upper-middle-class parents, spending an extra Rs 40,000 per year to achieve this dream seemed worth it, even though the ads were criticized in early 2020 for being “misleading”. had to face
Looks like the bubble has finally burst. Parents are questioning the methods of these platforms and also how much kids are actually learning.
“When my daughter was learning coding during the pandemic, it was a great way for her to get engaged. Over time we realized that she was not learning anything new in these classes. It was very basic and not even coding. It was basically like teaching someone how to design cards on Canva (an online graphic design platform). There is no originality in it,” said Ayesha’s mother Akanksha Khatri.
A software developer herself, Akanksha pulled her daughter out of classes last year. She said that many other children in the same batch also left.
With many parents coming to a similar conclusion of late and startups facing a funding winter, some of India’s coding-for-kids platforms seem to be in trouble.
Amid growing speculation that WhiteHat Jr. is shutting down its parent company Byju’s Claimed Last week the coding platform was undergoing “optimization”. However, sources in the edtech industry have told ThePrint that WhiteHat Jr. has been doing hardly any business for the past few months.
Similarly, CampKey12, which also runs coding classes, has laid off 70 per cent of its workforce. media reports earlier this month.
So, do these developments mean that coding for kids is out of date and online platforms that teach it have outlived their usefulness? Not according to industry experts, who say that while coding is still a relevant skill for kids, teaching methods and delivery are about to change.
Why don’t parents go hungry anymore
When parents initially raced to sign up for coding classes, many hoped that their children, some still in elementary school, would hone their cognitive skills and potentially pursue a lucrative career in software. Will gain a competitive edge for.
Over time, however, many parents become disillusioned to find that their children have not acquired important technical skills.
Gurgaon-based parent Rekha Ahuja said she didn’t believe the coding classes had taught her son, who is now 14, much.
“My son doesn’t know what to do after creating a mobile app through the platform. It gave him a lot of confidence when he was learning coding, and designing all those apps, but what happened after that?” He asked.
Ahuja said, “I feel that apart from getting kids comfortable with technology and teaching them how the backend of software works, coding didn’t contribute much to kids’ education.”
Akanksha Khatri also had a similar complaint. “As long as the kids were learning on company-designed software, they knew what to do, but beyond that they were clueless,” she said.
Parents also said their children lost interest in the subject and wanted to do more outdoor activities once pandemic restrictions were lifted.
Rajeev Dubey, a parent living in Noida, said his daughter used to clamor to join the coding classes, but her enthusiasm waned and she was left with little time when regular classes resumed at her school.
“I was anyway not in favor of spending Rs 40,000 annually to teach my daughter something she is not going to use in future, but it was due to peer pressure. Since his other friends were going, he insisted that I enroll him for these classes as well,” said Dubey.
Is coding for kids still relevant?
Edtech industry experts ThePrint spoke to admitted that coding platforms have lost their edge. However, he emphasized that teaching coding to kids is still an important part of education.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the co-founder of a coding platform that works directly with schools said that learning how to program has become more institutionalized under the new National Education Policy (NEP).
“The policy outlines what should come under coding education and at what age children should be taught it. From a need perspective, it is much more relevant now,” he said.
The NEP specifies that “activities involving coding will be introduced at the middle stage”, which refers to classes 6–8, which covers ages 11 to 14.
He said that the hype seems to have stopped as the companies which were creating the buzz are getting less funding.
“Covid was a crazy time and almost every company raised money. He then used the funding to outdo anything in the market and create buzz. However, in the long run, only those who have a more sustainable business plan survive.”
The Mumbai-based founder of the now-defunct coding platform told ThePrint that those that survived shifted their model from B2C (business to consumer) to B2B (business to business) and started working with schools. Gave.
In the latter model, coding platforms collaborate with schools by providing experts and software for classes in exchange for a fee. Since the number of students in schools is more, these platforms are able to charge less fees.
“Now that coding is being taught in some schools, the fees have come down drastically. People don’t need to spend that much to teach coding to their kids. Group classes are now as low as Rs 2,400 (per child) per year,” he said.
(Edited by Asawari Singh)