This archive report was first published on 19 August 2019.
Published on August 19, 2019, Nairobi will for the first time host an international coding boot camp, dubbed Coding School (CS), aimed at equipping future programmers with critical 21st century coding skills.
The Coding School, supported by Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, and ThinkYoung, a Brussels-based think tank, has selected Nairobi as the first African country to host the coding boot camp following successful editions in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Between October 10 and 14, the boot camp will take place in Nairobi, open to young people aged 11 to 16. The event aims to provide students with top-notch skills that meet the global demand for skilled labour in the tech industry.
According to Andrea Gerosa, Founder of ThinkYoung, 'There are millions of vacant jobs in the IT field, some of which pay as much as $7,000 for internship positions, yet there are high levels of unemployment. This boot camp is meant to give students top-notch skills that meet the global demand for skilled labour in the tech industry and thereby give young people opportunities for gainful employment.'
ThinkYoung is welcoming more than 60 participants and aiming for 70 per cent of students to be girls, challenging the myth that coding and IT are skills that only interest boys.
Students will learn about creating mobile apps, developing a small blog in HTML5, and converting HTML-based games into mobile apps. They will also work with partners DroneSix on Micro Drones and Robotics.
