• In partnership with Boeing, ThinkYoung will host its 9th Coding Summer School in Nairobi.
• During 2 weekends (November 21/22 & 28/29), 60 young people (60% of whom are girls) aged between 11 and 14 will get free lessons in computer programming through sessions with coding experts.
• Classes will cover a wide range of activities, such as coding a personal blog or web page in HTML5 and building a mobile game with JavaScript.
Empowering young people by teaching them digital skills
Geared towards young programmers, this year’s school features an interactive curriculum that includes creating websites and mobile apps. The programme – which is 100% free of charge – provides students with a unique experience of a school characterised by innovative approaches in a non-formal educational setting, addressing the real needs of the youth of today and the skills required by the labour market.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that education needs to be inclusive and accessible to all, considering new technology-related critical skills for the youth”, says Andrea Gerosa, Founder of ThinkYoung. “After a first successful school in Nairobi in 2019, we are extremely happy to bring back the Coding Summer School in Kenya, in order to offer young people the opportunity to learn new things.”
Advances in digital technology are having a colossal impact on our economy and society and are profoundly transforming the job market as well as the types of skills required for young professionals. This new reality leads to the need of more skilled ICT professionals in all sectors.
The Coding Summer School is in support of the Government’s Digital Skills Agenda as outlined in Kenya’s Digital Economy Blueprint, supported by the ICT Ministry in 2019.
60% of girls participants
The project also aims to break the traditional stereotype that ICT is not for women and bring technology and the variety in this field closer to girls. One of the goals of the Coding Summer School is to overcome male domination in the ICT sector by giving younger girls female role models, early experiences of computer science, and to build a supportive environment capable of instilling confidence and interest.
For more information about the Coding Summer School, please visit www.codingsummerschool.com
ThinkYoung is the first think tank that focuses on young people. It was founded in 2007 and has expanded to have offices in Brussels, Geneva, Madrid, Hong Kong, and Nairobi. It is a not-for-profit organisation, with the aim of making the world a better place for young people, by involving them in decision-making processes and by providing decision-makers with high quality research on youth’s conditions. ThinkYoung conducts studies and surveys, makes documentary movies, writes policy proposals, and develops education programmes: up to date, ThinkYoung projects have reached over 600,000 young people.
