I could already touch type sloppily in the 90s when I took a keyboarding class in Gr 9. The class taught me proper hand/wrist positioning to avoid strain which I attribute to helping me avoid wrist problems over the years. Of course I also taught myself how to program the 90s typewriters so I could create macros and slack my way through the rest of the semester.

I don't think it mattered in programming classes that I could touch type, just meant I could multi task distractions easier like being on IRC during lectures and appearing to be paying attention.