BBC unveils 'big project' to boost education around coding

Raspberry FUZE Pi
Will the Raspberry Pi feature in the BBC's plans?

Education around coding could be set to receive a boost in the UK after the BBC revealed plans to help bring programming into "every home business and school" in the country.

Speaking at the 'Where Next' event, BBC Director Tony Hall said the news organisation has a "big project" in the works for 2015 designed to inspire tomorrow's potential coders.

He said: "If informing the world is vital to the BBC then so is education. We want to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology."

The BBC will oversee the creation of tailored content for schools as part of the initiative and plans to commission programmes to help young people build websites, develop apps and make the most of 3D printing.

Valuable skill

TV presenter and Brian Cox talked up coding as an "equally valuable skill" to reading, writing and counting when it comes to educating young people.

He said: "It's not just using computers as a tool, but actually telling them what to do. The BBC can have a transformative role in this. It has the power to inspire."

The BBC outed the plans on the same day that The Raspberry Pi foundation announced that the UK has built its one millionth Raspberry Pi and sold a total of 1.75 million globally.

Kane Fulton
Kane has been fascinated by the endless possibilities of computers since first getting his hands on an Amiga 500+ back in 1991. These days he mostly lives in realm of VR, where he's working his way into the world Paddleball rankings in Rec Room.