Secondary school students across New South Wales will start to study coding, cyber security and business information systems in 2024 as part of an updated curriculum.
The NSW Government, through Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell, unveiled the new Enterprise Computing and Software Engineering syllabuses for Year 11 and Year 12 students across the state under a new Computing Technologies curriculum.
The announcement said the new curriculum is aimed to create the next generation of tech leaders, entrepreneurs and experts as part of the NSW Government’s ongoing curriculum reform work.
“Students need to develop an understanding of essential computing skills to not only keep themselves safe in a digital world, but also to thrive in the careers of the future,” Mitchell said.
“These new syllabuses mean that right from the beginning of high school, students can learn fundamental skills in coding, cyber security and information systems for businesses.
“The curriculum has also been updated to better reflect the latest computing technologies and the expectations of industry, so that we create the next generation of tech savvy experts here in NSW.”
The new syllabuses will include an increased focus on cyber safety and cyber security content, closer links to learning in other subjects like mathematics and science, and a mandatory project for all students as part of an assessment.
The announcement said the syllabuses would also see secondary students sitting more Higher School Certificate (HSC) exams online in 2025.
“The NSW Government is bringing subjects and the HSC into the modern era with new syllabuses that align to our fast-changing digital world,” Mitchell said.
“Modernising the HSC is essential if it is to remain a world-class qualification. While currently only one subject has an exam conducted on a computer, this will be expanded to reflect the increasingly online world we are living in.”
NSW minister for customer service and digital government Victor Dominello said the NSW Government is committed to providing the state with the skills for the 21st century.
“We want our kids to have the world at their fingertips and this initiative will help us to build a digital workforce of the future,” he said.
The new curriculum also includes new streamlined Geography 11-12 syllabuses, new Classical and Modern Languages syllabuses for Kindergarten to Year 10.
The new syllabuses are available for teachers to plan starting 2023, and will be taught in NSW schools from 2024.
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