Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi Says Young People Should Study Computer Science, Even if They Won't Become Programmers

It’s easy to mistake computer science for programming, and Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi says that even the kids who will never work for Google or Microsoft should be educated in digital literacy.

Partovi joined Re/code Executive Editor Kara Swisher on the latest episode of “Re/code Decode,” where he argued that we should start imparting the basics of computer science to kids in elementary school.

“We don’t teach biology or chemistry to kids because they’re going to become surgeons or chemists,” Partovi said. “We teach them about photosynthesis and that water is H2O, or how lightbulbs work, just to understand the world around us. You don’t use any of it, but you do on a day-to-day basis use public-key encryption, and the average American has absolutely no idea what that is.”

Vjeran Pavic for Re/code

He explained that reforming education to introduce digital concepts has been, unsurprisingly, easier said than done. Gradually, over time, younger teachers with more modern training will come into schools, but he conveyed a sense of urgency about starting now.

“How do we train the current, existing workforce of teachers so that every school has a course?” he asked. “That will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Listen to or download the episode in the player above, or click here to subscribe to “Re/code Decode” on iTunes; you can also find “Re/code Decode” on TuneIn, Stitcher and Clammr.

Peter Kafka will be back this Thursday to talk to David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, and Kara will be in this space on Monday to talk to California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom.

You can also hear Kara this Friday on “Too Embarrassed to Ask,” her new podcast with Lauren Goode from The Verge. Click here to subscribe to “Too Embarrassed to Ask” on iTunes right now. And you should also check out “Re/code Replay,” an archive of audio content from our events and interviews by Kara Swisher, Walt Mossberg, Peter Kafka, Ina Fried and more. To subscribe to that, click right here.

You can follow @Recode on Twitter for the latest on upcoming guests.

If you like what we’re doing, please write a review on iTunes — and if you don’t, just tweet-strafe Kara and Peter. You can also suggest guests for the show on Twitter, and we’ll do our best to nab them for a Red Chair interview.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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