Labour wants coding to be part of core curriculum

The Labour Party kicked off its Future of Work conference in Auckland this week, announcing its 10 Big Ideas.

Amongst the ideas are several points about education, including introducing coding to New Zealand's core school curriculm.

Labour's Future of Work Commission Chair Grant Robertson says the 10 big Ideas are designed to help shape the party's policy development.

"The Future of Work has struck a chord with workers, business and the wider public. There has been a lot of feedback on our discussion papers with some great ideas coming forward," Robertson says.

Technology is a big theme across the ideas. Labour wants to build "digital equality" by ensuring Kiwis can access technology regardless of where they live or how wealthy they are.

One of the ideas involves reforming the transition between education, training and work, through comprehensive reform of career guidance and creating a school leavers' toolkit to prepare them for the practical requirements of work.

Further, Labour hopes to provide al New Zealanders with three free years of post-school education.

"Ensuring we are prepared for the changing nature of work is one the biggest tasks facing New Zealand," Robertson says.

"These Ten Big Ideas are an indication of the exciting outcomes that are possible in the future of work," says Robertson.

According to the Otago Daily Times, Robertson saysd children should learn computer coding, "as young as possible".

He says coding would have to be taught from an early age so it becomes core to the way students learn.

The Ten Big Ideas are:

1. Building digital equality – through ensuring Kiwis can access technology regardless of where they live or how wealthy they are.

2. Accelerating technology in business – through developing new models of capital raising and investing in research and development.

3. Developing Business Clusters – by creating regional partnerships of business, councils, research organisations and iwi to get the best out of local and emerging industries.

4. Building wealth from the ground up – by encouraging new models of business, including entrepreneurship and cooperatives to create a more sustainable economy.

5. Establishing a just transition – through creating a social partnership model and strong and flexible social and re-training programmes.

6. Ensuring greater income security – through investigation of new models of income security for New Zealand, including considering a limited trial of a universal basic income-type system in a town or region.

7. Reforming the transition between education, training and work – through comprehensive reform of career guidance and creating a school leavers' toolkit to prepare them for the practical requirements of work.

8. Labour's Working Futures Plan – in which all New Zealanders receive three free years of post-school education, phased in from 2019.

9. Partnering with Maori in a post-Treaty settlement era – through the Government facilitating strategic partnerships between iwi, business, and third parties to develop the Maori economy.

10. Establishing a Pasifika working futures plan – by working with the community to focus on the transition between education and work and identifying and eliminating the barriers to entrepreneurship.