Grooming the tech drivers of tomorrow
Change is the only constant thing in life. Technological advancement is one change that has taken the world by storm and paved the way for a new world order
In the rapidly growing tech world, only those who are tech savvy can function effectively and lead the rest of the pack.
Since teenagers are the future, it becomes imperative to prepare them adequately to be able to excel in the evolving world where technology is everything. At the vanguard of this crusade is an organisation called, Teens Can Code. In the belief that the opportunity every child has should not be determined by the status of their parents or where they live, Teens Can Code has been helping teenagers living in low-income areas access free intensive computer programming classes by organizing conferences across such localities, so every child can have access to it and be empowered with the skill of the future.
The ‘Teen Code’ conference which started its test run in Lagos State, has held successfully in Alimosho, Ajegunle, Ikotun and most recently, Ejigbo , with a large crowd of teenagers gathering to learn about opportunities in tech. At the end of every conference there is a free follow-up training programme for select students of up to 50 in each of the communities for three months. Over 150 lucky students have been trained on HTML, CSS and JAVA Script since the commencement of the campaign in 2015. Similarly, about 5,000 more have been reached through conferences, workshops, and career days.
The Ejigbo summit which held recently was dubbed, ‘Read, Write and Code’. It had over 700 students drawn from various schools within the locality, in attendance. The high point of the event, which also attracted seasoned motivational speakers and technology entrepreneurs, including yours truly, was the donation of a brand new HP laptop by wave-making comedian, Otolorin kehinde Peter, aka, Kenny Blaq, to the winner of the tech quiz competition