Every public and catholic primary school in the Pilbara will this term teach coding and automation skills to Year 5 and 6 students as part of the rollout of the Digital Technologies pilot program.
Along with the 26 primary schools, Karratha Senior High School and the Port Hedland School of the Air have also signed onto the program, which was funded and developed through the Pilbara Collaboration Charter.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA (CME) Chief Executive Paul Everingham said the 'Resources Challenges: Automation' pilot would teach digital technologies curriculum in the context of the WA resources sector.
"Coding and automation skills will be learnt as students navigate their robots representing autonomous haul trucks, drills and underwater vehicles or drones across maps that represent scenarios that are faced by the State's resources sector," Mr Everingham said.
"Industry representatives will assist teaching the concepts and share their career journeys through short online videos set in the challenges."
Mr Everingham said a key component of the initiative was the value it would add to the upskilling of regional teachers through professional development.
"Teacher professional development has recently been held across the Pilbara region including Karratha, Port Hedland, Newman, Tom Price, Onslow and Pannawonica to upskill teachers in this important new curriculum learning area," he said.
"The Resources Challenges: Automation will provide Pilbara-based teachers real-world challenges from a sector that is associated with the local communities where people live and work."
The charter was signed by WA Premier Mark McGowan, CME and its members BHP, Chevron Australia, CITIC Pacific Mining, Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Roy Hill, Woodside and Yara Pilbara.
