To help promote a strong workforce to make sure North Carolina is prepared for the jobs of today and tomorrow, Governor Roy Cooper has declared December 4-10, 2017, Computer Science Education Week.
“Computer programming skills are critical for many 21st century jobs,” Gov. Cooper said. “To get the next generation job ready and help attract new businesses to our state, we need to encourage more students to develop coding and computer science skills.”
For Computer Science Education Week, Governor Cooper will join middle school students at a Google-sponsored science coding workshop Thursday in Charlotte.
In North Carolina, there are currently more than 16,000 open computing jobs. However, in 2015, just under 1,300 postsecondary students graduated with computer science degrees in NC. In addition, fewer than 6,000 K-12 students are enrolled in a computer science course.
“Providing more opportunities for students to study computer science and computer programming, whether informally through extracurricular activities and clubs or through computer science courses in middle and high school, will help to encourage students to pursue computing careers and will better prepare them for our evolving workforce,” Gov. Cooper said.
“Computer science education provides foundational learning in computational thinking that enables students to develop and apply critical thinking skills, demonstrate imagination and creativity, practice collaboration, exhibit leadership, and employ problem-solving skills,” the proclamation reads.
Click here to read the proclamation.