Once considered an extracurricular activity for geeks, coding increasingly is being seen as both an essential life skill and a potential pathway to becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg.

MA students as young as kindergartners are learning computer programming, as the state’s schools join a growing national movement to prepare students for 21st-century jobs.

“Computer science is a natural outlet to exercise critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and it enhances mathematics, engineering and robotics,” Leo Brehm, the Newton, MA, district’s director of information technology told the Boston Herald. “There’s also a shortage of people in the workforce who can code.”