Month: June 2022

In many countries, the World Father’s Day has no fixed date and varies by country and culture. Celebrations are often associated with honouring fathers and fatherly attitudes towards children. In this article, we mark Father’s Day and ask colleagues at msg life Slovakia about their children’s future in IT.

When is Father’s Day in Slovakia?

Every year, the Father’s Day in Slovakia is celebrated the third Sunday of June. Father’s Day and its history dates back to 1910, when it originated in America and quickly spread around the world. It highlights the irreplaceable role of a father in a person’s life.A great way to express gratitude and love to your dad is to congratulate him on Father’s Day. Greetings can be expressed by a personal visit, sending a card or a gift, while even a small gesture can make this special day more enjoyable for him. We at msg life Slovakia also appreciate fathers and we have given them a nice gift for Father’s Day. We also interviewed our colleagues and asked them if they lead their children to information technology.

Original tips on what to give dads for Father’s Day

Here are a few ideas of what to buy or make for Father’s Day as gifts for you to consider, but keep in mind that it’s important to pay attention to his interests and tastes to make the gift personal and special for him.

• Books: if your dad is a bookworm, choose a book by his favourite author or on a subject that interests him.
• Clothing or accessories: a good quality shirt, tie, cap, hat or other clothing or accessories can be a suitable gift.
• Sports equipment: if your dad is the sporty type, gift him some sports equipment or accessories such as a tennis racket, golf set, cycling helmet, etc.
• Peculiarity: If he has a special hobby, think of a gift that goes along with it. For example, if he likes to barbecue, a quality barbecue set could be a great gift.
• Technological devices: if your dad is technologically inclined, a new gadget, smart watch or other technological device could make him happy.
• Relaxing Gifts: Give him a relaxing gift such as a spa pass, massage, aromatherapy oil or a quality coffee maker.
• Personal Gifts: Create something personal for him, such as a photo book with family photos, a handmade gift or a piece of jewelry with a custom engraved message.

The concept of parental leave comes up many times in relation to the role of father. A father on parental leave is still something unusual for many compared to a mother. Although the focus is on the first three years of a child’s life, maternity leave (check also our article about return from maternity leave) is not the end of a child’s upbringing, quite the opposite. After the first stage of life, the son or daughter starts kindergarten and school, their first personality traits and qualities begin to emerge. Gradually, therefore, the question of their orientation, which will determine their future direction in life, also arises. All this can be influenced by the parent through the upbringing of the children, but also by providing them with a quality education and a future. And since, according to the latest surveys, IT is the field that will have a good perspective in a few years, we asked our colleagues whether they are leading their children in this direction as well.

Supporting children’s IT education

“I will definitely encourage my daughter to know her way around IT. IT skills will be a great asset to her no matter what life path she chooses,” says teamleader Lukas about his four-month-old daughter. Another colleague of ours – scrum master Michal, who has a 13-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son, also sees potential in IT: “The development of IT systems has real added value because it makes everyone’s work easier and more efficient. In addition, working on software development can also be quite fun and varied because it allows us to dive into the areas for which we develop software. What my children will eventually focus on is an absolute mystery to me for now. But I like to be surprised.” Consultant Richard, who has two daughters and a son, leaves the choice up to his children. “It’s better if this life direction grows on them naturally,” he adds.

The IT world is interesting for children

“With children it’s simple. When they like something, they come and ask what I’m doing, what’s in my notebook and why it’s like that. I think that kids are pushed towards IT by the current world situation. Being without a computer, phone or smart watch is probably an exception today. My oldest daughter had a period in life where she was constantly wondering what was running on the computer, where something was stored or why problems were occurring. She’s over it now, but she can still navigate it well,” describes our IT consultant Richard. On the other hand, team leader Lukáš says he will try to make sure his daughter gets IT knowledge: “We don’t plan to rely only on our school system in this matter.” Our colleague Michal, on the other hand, has decided to involve his son in a different way. He combines the pleasant with the useful: “My son and I like to go running together and often discuss an interesting topic in mathematics or physics. It’s time well spent.”

According to Michal, interest in the chosen topic is the key predisposition for success. “The son and daughter are very different in this matter. My daughter is more of an artist, but at least sometimes she lets me talk to her about physics. Although she would never admit it publicly, I think she enjoys it. My son is an athlete at heart, but he is also very interested in technical topics. I think both children have a very good ability to understand technical problems. However, I think predisposition also includes interest, so if I had to put my money on anyone, it would be my son. He was drawn in that direction from a young age, asked a lot of questions and was usually very good at understanding connections and remembering. He successfully participates in mathematical competitions, such as the Math Olympiad or Pythagoriad. My daughter, by the way, is also good at these, but for her it’s more like a mandatory thing.” Children’s interest in IT can start at an early age when they are exposed to new technologies – as early as four months. “I think my daughter is starting to show an interest in IT, she’s fascinated by my mobile phone and laptop, she wants to look at them,” says Lukas. In contrast, colleagues with older children tend to reduce time their children spend with electronic devices. “We try to encourage children to see IT as a tool to help us solve our problems. I certainly wouldn’t want children to spend long hours playing computer games. They have a weekly schedule to play, which they manage themselves. They mainly use mobiles to communicate and listen to music. The installation of new apps has to go through our approval. The combination of children and IT can sometimes be harmful. For example, I don’t like to see a group of children spending time together sitting next to each other, each looking at their phone,” explains Michal.

IT is related to mathematics

IT is also very often related to mathematics and logical thinking. Some of our colleagues use maths at work on a daily basis, so we asked if they also help their children with it. “My wife and I are both trained teachers, so we have been trying to naturally develop mathematical thinking in children since they were young. However, they usually manage the school curriculum without our help. Rather, we try to show them some interesting things that would broaden their knowledge from school. When they do happen to need something explained, I try not to do it in a straightforward way. I ask them questions that gradually help them to find the solution themselves. I have to admit that I am always happy when I get such an opportunity,” says Michal. Proof that math is not for everyone is our colleague Richard. “For my eldest daughter, maths is fun, she doesn’t have to study and gets good results, but for my younger daughter, maths is a nightmare. It’s her biggest fear,” laughs Richard. “But if she asks for advice, I’m happy to help,” he adds.

Children’s IT knowledge and school curriculum

It is still true that children learn most of their lessons at school, so we were also interested in whether our colleagues are satisfied with the teaching of mathematics and the level of IT in schools. “It always depends on several factors, i.e. the school, the teacher and the diversity of the classmates. All of this affects the level of attainment. The most important thing is the teacher and their experience. There are not enough teachers that at the moment, which is reflected in the pupils’ knowledge. When in primary school, children sometimes encounter teachers who lack experience. If the class is diverse and the teacher does not create a positive relationship with the curriculum, the children do not have the will to acquire knowledge and it is difficult to change their mind at home when they do homework,” says Richard. “The main focus is still in memorizing formulas and learning certain procedures, but the development of abstract and analytical thinking is lacking. Thus, pupils can only solve narrowly confined types of problems. When the task is varied slightly, they already have a problem because they cannot generalize and analyze the problem. However, in their lives and careers they will encounter these types of tasks,” adds Lukas. Michal also prefers a different approach to learning: “When it comes to maths, I’m a fan of the Heine method, which is designed to develop independent thinking using experience. Many Slovak schools are trying to get up to speed with this system, but it’s not easy, because it requires changes not only in the pupils’ attitudes, but also in the teachers’ attitudes. The biggest problem, in my opinion, is the low salaries in education. Many capable teachers leave to do other jobs in which they are paid several times as much as in teaching. This is especially true for teachers of mathematics or computer science.” However, according to Michal, the situation is slowly improving: “Mindset of responsible people is good in my opinion. New modern methods are being introduced in schools and there is a will to teach children so that they are able to think independently and courageously about the tasks they are given. In practice, however, it depends very much on the particular school and, in particular, on the particular teachers. At the school my son goes to, they have been trying to teach kids the basics of coding since the first grade, using children’s programming environments. These are games that teach children to think algorithmically.”

Is studying IT at university important for children?

On the subject of education, the question of the necessity of going to university has also come up recently. In job interviews (read about tips on how to prepare for a job interview), recruiters often prefer experience over education. We therefore asked colleagues if they would be happy if their children went to university. “I don’t consider graduating from university to be essential for working in IT. In general, however, I think that attending a university of sufficient quality is a great benefit for a young person, and I plan to support my children in their decision to choose and graduate, but not force them to do so,” says Lukas. Michal also agrees with his team leader: “IT can certainly be mastered without university, especially if one is passionate and likes to educate himself in the field. However, univesity brings much more than just knowledge that can be used on the job. The student gets a more general overview, they get to explore topics that they might otherwise have bypassed, and that opens up a wide range of possibilities. In addition, the university environment is stimulating because there is a large community of like-minded people. I will definitely be happy if my children decide to go to university.” Our colleague Richard, who is a trained chef, has a different opinion on this question: “Studying at university is important in terms of educational attainment, so in some cases it also opens closed doors. From my own experience, I have to say that it is not completely essential. If a young person can adapt and gain knowledge, they can achieve success without going to university. Even in the IT field. However, university provides deeper information through which one can see broader contexts. So I would be pleased if my children took that route. It can certainly help them in some areas.”

The future of the IT sector

As our colleagues’ children are still at a young age, the fact remains that by the time they graduate from university, the world around us, and especially the IT field, may look completely different. We therefore asked our colleagues if they dare to guess what problems their children will solve in the IT field in the future. “I am convinced that artificial intelligence will solve many things in the future. When I see the world our parents lived in and the world we live in, I think the changes are going to be really big. Even programming itself has come a long way since its beginnings. Programmers are becoming more and more comfortable in their jobs, modern programming languages do a lot of the ‘dirty’ work for us, technical proficiency is not as important as it used to be. This is the direction I think it will continue to go in. One day, maybe the developer will just be a kind of configurator whose job is to explain to the machine what to program,” says Michal. Lukas sees the future of IT in a similar way: “I expect artificial intelligence to play a much more important role. This trend is already evident. I can imagine that if my child one day decides to pursue a career in IT, he or she could, for example, program self-learning algorithms or be a neural network architect or something similar.” “It may be that in 20 years’ time, the IT worker will be one of the sort of elite, and the work will be done by computers,” concludes Richard.