Does your child really need to learn to code? It’s a question almost every parent asks at some point. This week our founder Hannan Moti gave his answer to the start-up site Best Startup Story, along with the story of how iCodejr began and where we’re heading next.
The interview was published on 9 December 2022 under the headline “iCodejr – Preparing children for the world of tomorrow!”: read the full interview on Best Startup Story. Here are the highlights, and the advice for parents we think every family should hear.
The interview at a glance
| Outlet | Best Startup Story (Entrepreneur Stories section) |
| Published | 9 December 2022 |
| Format | Written Q&A, 13 questions |
| Interviewee | Hannan Moti, Founder and CEO, iCodejr |
| Also featured | AK Moti, co-founder and COO |
| Topics | How iCodejr started, the founders’ backgrounds, our first year, plans, a message for parents and students |
The founders: from banking and food tech to coding classes
iCodejr is led by two co-founders: Hannan as CEO and AK Moti as COO. Before iCodejr, Hannan built his career in finance, in leadership roles at JP Morgan, Barclays and Fiserv. AK Moti is a serial entrepreneur who started his first business, in food tech, in 2014.
Hannan told Best Startup Story that iCodejr opened once it had received its licences from the UAE government, and that the aim is to give children the tech skills they’ll need in a digital world: building their own apps, games and websites. He described the mission as top-class teaching for every learner, with strong teachers, a well-built curriculum, lessons children enjoy and schedules that work for families.
Our first year
iCodejr is still young, but it has grown fast. In the interview, Hannan said:
- More than a thousand students have graduated in our first year.
- We have run hackathons and workshops across the UAE and the wider GCC, working with retailers and public bodies to support STEM learning. That includes the very first Code Battle, our free inter-school hackathon, held in February 2022 during UAE Innovation Month.
- Hackathons are the students’ favourite events, a chance to compete with other young coders and show what they’ve built.
- The team is investing in our technology and curriculum.
Hannan's advice for parents
This is the part of the interview we think matters most to families. Hannan’s message was direct:
“Coding is the most important skill set of the future.” — Hannan Moti, Founder and CEO, iCodejr
He was clear that not every child will become a programmer, and that’s not the point. In his words, “learning to code at an early age helps build logical thinking, cognitive skills, creativity, and most of all, confidence”. And because almost every industry runs on technology, understanding how code works helps children understand the world they’re growing up in.
He also pointed out that governments, the UAE’s included, are pushing for coding to be taught.
His request to parents was simple: “We request parents encourage their children to code.” He asked them to “please provide your child access to a platform at an early age so they may learn this language”. And to students: “please do not discount the need for coding literacy – the future is heavily reliant on it.”
What this means in practice:
- Start early, start small. Young children can begin with block-based tools such as ScratchJr and Scratch, long before they type a line of code.
- Follow what they love. A child who loves games can build one; a child who loves stories can animate one.
- Look for confidence, not just skills. Finishing a project and showing it to someone is where the confidence Hannan talks about comes from.
If you’re wondering whether your child is ready, our guides on why coding is important for kids and what to learn at each age go into more detail.
In the news
- Best Startup Story, 9 Dec 2022: iCodejr – Preparing children for the world of tomorrow! (interview with Hannan Moti, by Kajal Sharma)
Give your child a head start
Hannan's advice is simple: start early. Our live one-to-one classes help children build their own games, apps and websites, at their own pace.
