Never would I have thought that anything game-related could be a part of a school’s academic syllabus. That’s what is happening at a high school in Norway where, for the first time, a regular high school has added e-sports and gaming as an elective class as part of its core curriculum.
It is in the city of Bergen in Norway, a high school by the name of Garnes Vidaregåande Skole will start to teach e-sports to its students starting August of 2016. The subject will be on equal terms with traditional sports like football and handball at the said school. The program lasts for three years and the class will see 30 students studying five hours a week.
That being said, it isn’t all fun and games. Gaming skills are important, however, students will face 90 minutes of physical training which focuses on reflexes, strength, and of course, endurance. They will be split into two classes; one will be playing the games while the other will perform physical exercise. In an interview done by Dotablast, head of the school’s science department, Petter Grahl Johnstad said that the student’s performance ranging from game knowledge and skills, communication, co-operation, as well as tactical ability will all be graded.
According to the school’s Facebook page, the school will set up a dedicated room where the program will commence, fully equipped with gaming chairs and even high-end gaming PCs that have Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti graphics card. Interestingly, no keyboards, mouse or headsets will be provided because the school acknowledges that the students will have their own personal choice of peripherals.
Games to be studied for the program have not been confirmed yet, but popular titles like Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Starcraft II are all under consideration.
If it was back in the 2000s, there is no way (pun intended) that games or e-sports would ever be introduced in schools, let alone as a regular subject. E-sports is growing at a tremendous pace and the children of the future will have another job prospect to look into – professional gaming.
(Source: Ars Technica)
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