No fewer than One hundred Secondary School Girls between the ages of 7-13 are to undergo a six week intensive training in Web Development in Ondo State as part of activities to mark the 2021 Africa Code Week.
The training is being facilitated by Zeitgeist Aesthetics funded by UNESCO in partnership with Emerging Communities Africa (ECA), Ondo State Government through the Office of Innovation and Partnerships, State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the Akure Tech Hub.
At the flag of ceremony for the training programme in Akure, Special Assistant to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Innovation and Partnerships, Peace Odili said government will continue to partner relevant organizations for the adoption of coding into National Curricula in support of UN Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5 and 17.
Odili who is also the Executive Director at Emerging communities Africa – a non-profit organization focused on solving problems with technology said under the programme, 100 girls from four secondary schools in Ondo State will be trained on Web Application Development, Web hosting and Portal design for six weeks.
She explained that Emerging Communities Africa is providing skilled volunteers through Sabi Programmers to assist the school computer teachers in training the young girls.
“We are appreciative of the support from the Ondo State Government, having joined on this digital journey and belief in the importance and relevance of 21st-century learning for the development of African excellence.
The impact of this event is simple; to ensure that students are introduced to practical skills of coding, and the necessary support in empowering young girls and women to gain ICT skills, to match and beat their counterparts in the global circle of Programming.”
Chairman Ondo State House of Assembly Committee on Education Science and Technology, Toluwani Borokini appealed to the young girls to make best use of the opportunity to become digital citizens and proffer solutions to societal problems.
“During our oversight visit to concerned Agencies of Government, we will engage relevant stakeholders to see how coding can become an integral part of our curriculum. Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu is very open to innovative ideas, we will give all the legislative support to it and move different motions that promote technology adoption for our students”
The Permanent Secretary, State Information Technology Agency, SITA, Mr Akinseloyin said the initiative is to ensure that students are introduced to practical skills of coding, and gain ICT skills for self-development and growth of the society at large.
Manager of Akure Tech Hub, Benson Iji said Africa Code Week was created to offer free opportunities for young Africans to learn coding skills and for teachers to be trained on digital learning.
He said for six weeks, the participants drawn from St. Matthias Secondary School, Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School, St Peters Secondary and St. Louis Girls Grammar School will be trained on the intricacies of Web development.
“This program promises to impact in the girl child in basic preliminaries of coding. We are partnering with Sabi programmers to get the young ones educated.”
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