Matlali has soft spot for training teen geeks
Tech guru is providing tech education to schoolchildren and unemployed youth
LINDIWE Matlali started Africa Teen Geeks (ATG) in 2014, after she was inspired by a girl aged 8 from the US who had started her own app.
“I was so inspired while I was on an executive programme there, that I Googled what options we have here at home, only to find that IT is taught from grades 10-12 and in affluent schools especially.”
Matlali was recently named the 86th Commonwealth Point of Light in honour of her exceptional voluntary service, providing technology education to young people. The honour was bestowed on her by Queen Elizabeth II.
ATG is an organisation that teaches schoolchildren and unemployed youth how to code. Using her experience of being orphaned at a young age, Matlali is now inspiring Africa’s next generation of technology innovators by eliminating the barriers faced by disadvantaged communities in pursuing science, technology, engineering and maths.
“I started the organisation as part of a Mandela Day initiative. I brought children from Tembisa to Unisa labs and introduced them to computer science and programming.”
Matlali’s achievements include the MTN Women In ICT Community Builder Recognition Award 2018, and being a TechWomen fellow 2017 and one of Innov8tive Magazine’s “Top 50 Visionary Women in Tech To Watch”.
She’s also mastered the art of TEDx talks.
Matlali said ATG had grown beyond her wildest imagination.
“We have reached over 38 000 kids who have done our programme, and we’ve signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Basic Education, helping them develop coding and robotics in the curriculum from Grade R. We’re building our own platform which I’m excited about.
“The children will be able to learn coding in their own languages so they don’t have any barriers.
“When they learn to read, they will also learn about basic code in their languages.”
Since 2014, the organisation has trained over 110 teachers from disadvantaged schools and provided computer science training to 30 schools across underprivileged communities.
As part of the legacy of the Commonwealth heads of government Meeting in London 2018, the queen, as head of the Commonwealth, is thanking inspirational volunteers across the 53 Commonwealth nations for the difference they are making in their communities and beyond, by recognising one volunteer from each Commonwealth country each week in the two years following the summit.
“I didn’t even know I was in the running for it, so it came as an awesome surprise when I was honoured. I was informed that I was selected as a Point of Light because they were able to see the work that has been done.”
Now, Matlali and her team are working on bringing their first “hackathon” to the youth, in partnership with Facebook.
“We are going to have high school kids with university kids, which is really my passion. Getting varsity students to mentor high school kids and get them interested in this event. It will be one of the first where the kids will be linked with professional mentors from Facebook.”
The hackathon is next month in Lagos, Nigeria. See https://www.hackathonforjustice.org/ for more