High School students at the Centre Professionnel et Technique Minto can now take their love of gaming to the next level—while earning a course credit.
Starting this year, the French Catholic school board is offering students the chance to take an electronic sports course that students say teaches “leadership, teamwork and communication.”
“I’ve always wanted this to be a class and here it is, I’m so lucky,” said student Malcolm Tieu.
The course also includes gym time and students are taught to identify cyberbullying and signs of online addiction.
“The stereotype of someone playing e-games alone in their basement…it’s not that at all,” said Eugénie Congi, the superintendent of education at the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est. “It’s in a social context so they learn to socialize, work in teams and that in the workplace later on will help them," she said.
It’s a big business—Fortnite’s World Cup Finals drew more than 2 million live viewers with the 16-year-old winner taking home $3 million.
“I want to be a robotics engineer when I grow up because I like doing things hands-on and using my imagination,” said Michelle Roy, one of a few female students in the class.
She hopes more girls will be inspired to try gaming.
Other school boards in Ottawa offer after-school e-sports programming for students interested in the growing industry.
