350 teachers get special training
By SANDRA MACHIMA ABOUT 350 teachers in Zambia have been trained as part of the Train-the-Trainer sessions organised by SAP and Africa Code Week partners in a bid to equip the youth with skills they need to thrive in the global knowledge economy, CEO of Hackers Guild and Africa Code Week implementing partner in Zambia, Charles Mwanza has said.
The teachers have undergone training through a globallyrenowned programme aiming to bridge the digital skills gap across the African continent.
Mr Mwanza said Africa Code Week was teaching more than coding aimed at encouraging young people to “think like coders,” to grow Zambia’s software industry.
He explained that Africa Code Week was a fantastic opportunity for Zambia’s youth to learn the skills they need to thrive in the global knowledge economy, saying its mission was to bridge the digital skills gap across the African continent by empowering its future workforce with coding skills.
Participants learnt coding with Scratch, a free programming language designed by the MIT Media Lab to teach coding to the young generation in a fun and interactive way, and more than 350 local teachers were trained as part of the Trainthe-Trainer sessions organised by SAP and Africa Code Week partners at Lusaka International Community School (LICS).
Africa Code Week, spearheaded by SAP in 2015 with over half-a-million young Africans introduced to coding so far, officially returns to the continent with a goal to empower another 500,000 across 35 countries, and is actively supported by UNESCO YouthMobile, the Cape Town Science Centre, the Galway Education Centre, Google, 15 African governments and over 100 public and private partners.
And director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP and Africa Code Week Global Lead, Claire GillissenDuval said there was no transformation of education through Information and Communications Technology without proper training of teachers first; hence the importance of the Trainthe-Trainer sessions organised every year in most participating countries. She said throughout the weekend, Zambian teachers showcased determination and commitment in supporting the efforts to bridge the digital divide and empower younger generations with job-relevant coding skills. “This is where the transfer of skills and knowledge takes place as SAP skilled volunteers equip teachers with the teaching materials they need to make coding a daily reality in the classroom.He said the teachers were ready to introduce coding to their own pupils and students ahead of the Africa Code Week Zambia to take place in October.