PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo announced a new goal for the CS4RI Initiative Wednesday: double the number of computer science graduates in Rhode Island by 2025.
Raimondo made the announcement at the CS4RI Summit at the University of Rhode Island. The CS4RI Initiative is a push to expand public school computer science offerings by reducing “barriers to providing quality computer science education and professional development” and to bring computer science learning opportunities to all Rhode Island schools.
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“Thanks to CS4RI, every single student who goes through our public-school system has a chance to learn computer science,” said Raimondo in a statement. “Computer science is essential for us to equip all students – no matter their race, gender or zip code – with the skills they need to be competitive for the high-wage, high-growth jobs that companies like Infosys, Johnson & Johnson and GE Digital are creating in Rhode Island.”
The governor’s office said in a release that in 2017 Rhode Island’s public and private colleges produced 817 computer science or related field graduates while there were 1,300 open computing jobs in the state.
“By 2020, projections show that there will be more than 2,500 open jobs in computer science. Our new goal will ensure that our students can not only compete for those jobs, but start their own tech companies and become the next Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos,” said Raimondo.
In order to satisfy the new CS4RI goal, Raimondo called for the following changes to the public-school approach:
- Expand rigorous computer science pathways into every high school in the state.
- Improve the quality of computer science educators.
- Strengthen and grow computer science programs at the postsecondary level.
- Increase the number of CS4RI anchor companies and increase exposure to computer science for students in kindergarten through grade 8.
- Ensure computer science opportunities are equitable and closing key participation gaps.
