Pope supports initiative to teach more kids to code

A Polish person who starts and runs technology businesses has a worldwide plan to get more kids interested in computer programming. This plan has been supported by Pope Francis.

Miron Mironiuk, the creator of Cosmose AI (a company that makes artificial intelligence), is using his personal experience with coding to change his life.

He said that the “Code with Pope” program would help reduce the big differences in education worldwide.

We hope that the Pope’s participation will bring in Catholic countries.

“We think that if the Pope gets involved, he can persuade them to take advantage of this chance to learn programming without paying,” Mr. Mironiuk said to the BBC.

The initiative will support and promote free online coding education for students aged 11-15 in Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

After spending 60 hours learning, children will have the foundational knowledge of Python, which is one of the most widely used coding languages in the world.

In today’s world of technology, knowing how to program is just as important as being able to read and write.

Information from the World Economic Forum in 2023 showed that “most of the jobs that are growing the fastest are related to technology. ”

However, there is a serious lack of technology skills worldwide that could result in 85 million job positions remaining vacant by the year 2030.

Therefore, it is important to make sure that people in low and middle-income countries – including many Catholic ones – have easier access to good programming education.

Many people in Poland are Catholic.

The 33-year-old millionaire, Mr Mironiuk, said to the BBC that he was happy and proud to be Polish and part of a group of successful Polish people working in technology.

However, Mironiuk knows that some countries are not as lucky, and he hopes this educational program can help make a difference.

The program will be offered in Spanish, English, Italian, and Polish. The aim is to reach kids in South America (excluding Brazil), as well as English-speaking countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The Pope has previously encouraged young people to learn coding. He even assisted in writing a code for a UN project in 2019.

Mr Mironiuk is going to have a meeting with the Pope at the Vatican. But he agrees that the pope probably won’t try to learn new skills like his students do.

“He said he doesn’t think the person knows Python very well, at least. ” However, he will receive a certificate as recognition for his contributions in initiating the program.