Kingston, Jamaica: Proving the incredible learning ability of young children, students of grades four and five at Drews Avenue Primary School showed great aptitude for basic computer science during the Hour of Code session facilitated by General Accident on Wednesday, December 6. The 2023 theme for Hour of Code was Creativity with AI.

The Hour of Code worldwide movement introduces tens of millions of students  to Computer Science.  Having started as a one-hour coding challenge in what year, the Hour of Code is now an annual learning event that takes place during Computer Science Education Week – December 5-11, 2022.

The Musson Group champions the cause locally through its subsidiaries General Accident and Seprod. Each year members of staff visit a public primary school to share the wonders of coding with students in an engaging one-hour session.

For the second year in a row, Drews Avenue Primary students were beneficiaries. Eager for more such learning opportunities, Drews Avenue Primary School Principal Dwayne Forbes was intentional in selecting the students who would participate in the exercise.

“We were being deliberate. We chose grades four and five so that when the GenAc team returns next year the continuation will take place with these students.”

“I wouldn’t mind if instead of it being once a year, it’s once a month I might be pushing it a bit too much. But we do appreciate it and I’m sure the students would have too. Thanks again to General Accident and Seprod Foundation for really coming up with this idea. It’s good to know that you still have good corporate citizens forging that bond with the educational system,” Forbes added.

For General Accident’s Application Support Representative in the IT department and Hour of Code session lead, Dario Linton,  the topic covered in this year’s session is timely.

“We covered encryption today.  Privacy and data security is an important factor in our digital environment right now. We have seen a lot of breaches in recent times and the children need to know how to protect themselves and to understand what is being protected and how it’s protected. That’s the key that we wanted to share today.”

The Hour of Code activity reinforces problem-solving and critical thinking skills while emphasising teamwork. It supports the new curriculum and the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) that was recently introduced in schools at the primary level across Jamaica.