"Enhance Software Skills for Elementary to High School Students" Korea Code Fair Held

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 18th that, together with the National Information Society Agency, it will hold the ‘2021 3rd Korea Code Fair’ to strengthen the software (SW) convergence capabilities of elementary, middle, and high school students and to motivate software learning.

The Korea Code Fair is a nationwide software competition that organizes and provides various programs so that elementary and secondary students interested in software can demonstrate and enhance their software skills in accordance with the mandatory software education in schools. Since the first competition in 2019, more than 3,300 participants have joined annually.

The 3rd Korea Code Fair is themed ‘A Happy World for All Created with SW and Artificial Intelligence (AI)’ and consists of three programs: the ‘SW Contest’ where software works are submitted, the ‘Hackathon’ where participants collaborate to solve problems with software, and the ‘Online SW Study Room’ where participants learn software and algorithms and verify their skills.

The SW Contest is held in three divisions: elementary, middle, and high school. It calls for submissions from June 20 to 31 of creative works that solve various social issues, daily life, and environmental problems around us through software. Through document screening from June 1 to 15, 210 teams (70 teams each from elementary, middle, and high school) will be selected, and online preliminaries will be held in July. The 90 teams (30 teams each from elementary, middle, and high school) that pass the budget review will advance to the finals held in October. Teams selected as outstanding works in the finals will have the opportunity to participate in the Broadcom MASTERS International Training Program held in the United States next year (elementary division) or represent Korea at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) (middle and high school divisions).

The Hackathon is held in two divisions: middle and high school. Teams form to define problems on given themes and solve them with software, evaluating team problem-solving skills, software planning and implementation abilities, and teamwork. Students wishing to participate in the Hackathon must apply between June 20 and 31. After the participant selection process (June), team formation will be completed by August. Selected teams must pass the Ideathon in August to participate in the Hackathon in October.

The Online SW Study Room is a program that provides elementary, middle, and high school students with opportunities to learn various online software education such as basic software, data structures, algorithms, and computer science, and to check their software skills online. Online software education is available for free from May 20 through membership registration on the Korea Code Fair website (kcf.or.kr). Online skill verification will recruit participants in July and be conducted twice in August. Certificates corresponding to the results (grades 1 to 10) will be issued afterward.

Kim Jeong-sam, Director of Software Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “In the digital transformation era where our daily lives are rapidly changing with AI, the ability to creatively solve problems around us using software is more important than ever,” and added, “I hope many young people participate in the Korea Code Fair to develop creative problem-solving skills and software capabilities and grow into outstanding talents.”

Top performers in the SW Contest will be awarded one Prime Minister’s Award and eleven Minister of Science and ICT Awards (including three for supervising teachers). Top performers in the Hackathon will receive one Prime Minister’s Award and five Minister of Science and ICT Awards. Detailed program information and registration will be available from the 20th on the Korea Code Fair website (kcf.or.kr).