Speaking in code: Dutch school replaces classics with computer languages

You’re unlikely to be asked whether you speak fluent Latin or Ancient Greek in a job interview – but a working knowledge of Python and C++ computer languages will probably be a plus. Let’s start immediately!”’ Today, when coronavirus measures aren’t in play, three entire classrooms of Metis secondary school in Amsterdam Oost are dedicated to Akkas’s ‘coder class’, where students have five hours of lessons each week in skills including computer languages, gaming, 3D modelling and ‘embedded’ computing such as the Internet of Things. ‘For our big project, I have an idea about artificial intelligence.’ Spaceship Akkas said that the self-powered learning – which fits well in the school’s Montessori system– is essential for computing. Teams take part in hackathons, robotics competitions everywhere from Denmark to Japan, and last year the school organised its first computing ‘field trip’ – taking 13 young people to Silicon Valley, to see the sights and drop in on Apple, Google, Berkeley and Stanford universities and several start-ups. ‘We have a lot of that – kids who are really, really good in computer sciences but aren’t interested in Dutch, French, German,’ he says.