On April 28, 2022, Microsoft Africa, Credit Bank, and Kodris Africa announced a groundbreaking partnership to support coding in Kenyan schools. This move comes in response to the Ministry of Education's approval of a new curriculum that emphasizes coding for primary and secondary schools.
The partnership marks the first of its kind in Africa, with the three firms working together to promote the use of Kodris Africa Studio, an online platform where content is uploaded. Kodris Africa offers an interactive coding curriculum for different grades, which will be rolled out to the rest of Africa after a successful startup in Kenya.
Computer coding involves transforming ideas, solutions, and instructions into binary machine code, a skill that is increasingly essential in today's digitalized world. The Kodris Africa syllabus covers primary school and lower secondary school, aligning with the government's efforts to promote digital literacy.
According to Irene Githinji, the Program Manager at Kodris Africa, "The Ministry of Education has made a great step in the right direction by approving a product that will enhance digital literacy among students in Kenya. We enjoin ourselves in this journey to bring this piece of education to Kenyan schools."
Individuals will have a free trial (15 tasks) before paying an access fee of KSHs. 330. Kodris Africa's CEO emphasized that learners deserve all the knowledge they can acquire in their year of study, enabling them to stand shoulder to shoulder with their peers from around the world.
Mr. Munene, the CEO, also stated, "We have built an online studio so that the learners and teachers can access the content online." This partnership marks an important milestone towards making coding a reality for learners across Kenya and the rest of Africa.
Notably, this partnership comes after Microsoft recently launched a $27 million (KSHS. 3 Billion) research center in Nairobi, the Microsoft Africa Development Center, which will house engineering, design, research, and innovation teams.
