With the increase in popularity of Blockchain and cryptocurrency, formal
With the increase in popularity of Blockchain and cryptocurrency, formal education on these two topics is more readily accessible around the globe. However, the UK Department for Education (DfE) has clearly stated that they do not plan to include cryptocurrency as a topic in the UK school curriculum. The department has instead stressed on the country’s school children receiving a “rigorous” new mathematics curriculum and financial literacy education.
The Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson, in a recent interview, did not object to cryptocurrency but at the same time, did not indicate any plans to make the topic part of the financial literacy curriculum element within UK schools.
Instead they revealed their plans to improve the UK curriculum so that it may provide important basic skills to young people with an interest in the sector:
“We have introduced a rigorous new mathematics curriculum and made financial literacy compulsory for 11 to 16 year olds. […] In addition, our new computing curriculum ensures pupils will have the broader knowledge and skills they need to go on to specialise in cutting edge technologies and become actively involved in using and creating their own digital technology.”
As fundamental programming is receiving growing support for being integrated into the school systems, it is only logical to make Blockchain a complimentary area of study with the possibility to major in it or specialize.
Other countries are however not backing down. Earlier this year, Timothy Breza, a history and financial literacy teacher at Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey confirmed to CNBC the addition of cryptocurrency to his Business and Personal Finance Course for 16 to 18-year olds.
Top universities are now offering courses on it including University of California, Pennsylvania, New York, and Stanford. In 2016 the UK’s Cambridge University became the first to add Blockchain to its Masters in Finance degree. The University of Nicosia, Cyprus, became the first to launch an MSc Degree in Digital Currency.
A small team of Oxford University, UK, professors are looking to establish the first-ever Blockchain-based university and are in the process of seeking authorization from the EU to grant degrees. Woolf Development’s university will use distributed ledger technology and SMART contracts to provide and administer courses and certificates. The Open University, the University of Nicosia, and the MIT Media Lab have also all explored Blockchain-based administrative and certification systems.
The question now remains, how soon will it be included in the school curriculum, if at all?