The Zariah Elizabeth Foundation says that it has empowered no fewer than 30 teachers across the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with coding skills to mark the Africa Code Week.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Mr Akindayo Akindolani, said that the teachers were drawn from more than 20 ICT-compliant primary and secondary schools in Abuja.
Akindayo spoke at the end of the Africa Code Week observance in Abuja, noting that the train-the-trainer method was adopted for teachers who would be expected to train students of the schools they represented.
“We are training them so that they would replicate the knowledge to the students where they teach, thereby equipping more young people with ICT skills.
“Our target is to train no fewer than 1,000 students before the next Africa Code Week who would train more students, especially the girl-child.
“Few girls are in the sciences and this is one of the many ways we can bridge that gap and increase their participation,’’ he said.
Akindolani said the training is aimed at teaching the fundamentals of coding, the type of coding languages and how they are matched to achieve specific tasks.
He also said “coding is the now and future of technology because coding powers all devices and many professions such as healthcare, communications and banking, among others, depend on soft wares for service delivery.
“You may ask why coding, it is because coding is the language used to programme computers, robots, mobile devices and websites that help them to respond to commands and interact with human.
“Anything on the web is coded and there are many and there is high internet penetration in continental and globally.
“We enjoy using applications on our mobile phones, using the computer or playing video game; the inventors make them by programming codes in them’’.
He disclosed that the training initiative was made possible and sustainable through the funding and partnership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Africa Code Week is observed at the end of every October in which its celebration usually ends on October 5; the World Teachers Day.
The week is also devoted to uprooting negative gender biases that stigmatise women and girls.
