In a significant effort to bridge the tech gap and equip students with coding skills, the Ngong Road Children’s Foundation partnered with the DirectEd Development Foundation in April 2023 to offer coding training for high school graduates. This partnership aimed to empower the graduates with coding proficiency, opening doors to a world of opportunities in the ever-evolving tech industry. The program has been taking place for the last few months and was divided into three progressively intensive parts.
Our students were making use of the Elimu Hub for the use of computers to access learning materials and carry out personal learning. Throughout their learning journey, they undertook a comprehensive curriculum comprised of five modules. These modules encompassed a diverse range of coding concepts and principles, and in the final module, the students were expected to each develop individual projects where they were to create innovative apps designed to address real-life problems.
After the completion of the program, a graduation ceremony was held on the 16th of August at Kenyatta University to recognize the participant’s remarkable achievements. Among those present were students not only from NRCF but also from partner schools, including Kagumo Boys High School, Mang’u Boys High School, and Maryhill Girls High School. The event was graced by distinguished speakers who lent their wisdom. Izzat Begum, a member of the Board of Trustees at DirectEd, articulated the importance of fostering girls’ empowerment within the tech space. Shahaf Bar-Geffen, the CEO of COTI, was the keynote speaker, and he offered perspectives on navigating the tech landscape. Simon, the CEO of DirectEd, also offered a brief speech. Our Programs Director, Kelvin Thuku was also in attendance. The students were then given their certificates with different levels of recognition to mark their successful completion of the program and become the first cohort graduates of this great initiative from the DirectEd Development Foundation.
Armed with skills in front-end and full-stack development, we have no doubt that our students will leave an unerasable mark in the tech space. We are entirely grateful to DirectEd Development Foundation for equipping our students with these skills. We would also love to show appreciation to the Cardano Community especially those that sponsored our students through this program. We are extremely proud of our graduates for working hard and attaining this recognition.