New competencies-based curriculum of computing in general basic education schools in Latvia and its testing

Abstract

As the economy in Latvia and the world develops, there is an increasing need for computer specialists, including in the information technology sector. That means that training of specialists for professional orientation must begin among schoolchildren in the lowest grades. The authors of this paper were involved in developing new computing education content in general basic education schools, also leading working groups to discuss computing studies from the 1st to the 9th grade (7-16 years old) and offering full methodological support for each class. The new computing content was supervised carefully as it was successfully tested in 150 pilot schools between 2015 and 2018. It will be introduced at all schools as of September 1, 2020.