Over 200 girls from Victoria Primary (VP) received computer science certificates during a graduation ceremony hosted at the school on Monday 7 November after completing a three-month programme.
Over 200 girls from Victoria Primary (VP) received computer science certificates during a graduation ceremony hosted at the school on Monday 7 November after completing a three-month programme.
The Computer Science First Clubs (CS First) is a Google programme created by educators and computer scientists, which introduces coding and computer science to students in a collaborative and creative club environment.
Proud teachers from VP watched 248 girls receive their certificates at the school hall on Monday.
Highway Africa Director Chris Kabwato, who played a key role in facilitating the programme said Computer Science First club members build projects in a programme called Scratch (scratch.mit.edu).
Kabwato said the programme targets learners from Grade 4 to 8, adding that the teaching materials are freely available.
"The objectives of the programme are to increase confidence when using computers, instil courage to try new things and to grow a learner’s perseverance when tackling difficult problems," he said.
The Highway Africa Centre was appointed by Google as the co-ordinating node for the Computer Science First Clubs in Grahamstown. Three schools have been involved in the first phase of the project, according to Kabwato: VP, Mary Waters High School and Diocesan School for Girls participated in the first phase.
Kabwato said Highway Africa has used the services of senior students in Computer Science at Rhodes University to work with the school teachers, especially the teaching of Computer Science First.
"It is clear that there is a very deep appreciation of what CS First Clubs could offer to learners in Grahamstown’s schools. However, that enthusiasm is being tempered by the reality of inadequate infrastructure (old computers, slow/erratic/zero connectivity)," he said.
Kabwato said these challenges have not daunted them.
"We think that we have an opportunity to actually go beyond CS First’s mandate and assist with the provision and maintenance of sound technology infrastructure in selected Grahamstown schools.
The magnanimous offer by St Andrew’s Senior Preparatory School to host other schools clubs is one that we deeply appreciate," he added.
Senior Education Specialist for E-Learning at the Grahamstown Education District Office Rejoyce Batyi said her responsibility is to facilitate the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into teaching and learning in schools.
"I do this by conducting workshops for teachers, training them on different teaching and learning software. I distribute this software to schools together with some electronic content. I also facilitate different ICT projects in the district such as the ICASA tablets project and the Telematics broadcasting project," she said.
Batyi said she was introduced to the CS First project some time in July this year.
"Since it is in the pilot stage, I have not been very much involved in it, but I am positive that it is a great project that will empower our learners with different ICT skills and open new opportunities for those who may want to pursue it at a later stage," she said.
Head of Academics at VP Anita Sonne said with the need to understand computer science and technology becoming increasingly vital in today’s world, it has become essential to educate children today and especially girls, in this field.
Sonne said coding and programmes such as Computer Sciences First teaches children important skills that they will need in the future. "It can improve their problem solving skills and encourage children to think laterally, logically and sequentially. Learning to code using coding programmes such as CS First is a fun and exciting introduction to coding," she said.
Sonne said the programme also helps the children to become more familiar and comfortable with technology.
"Finally as technology around us continues to improve and its use continues to increase it is an almost given fact that computer programmers will always be in demand and even more so in the future."
"So with these enormous benefits in mind VP decided to start CS First with all the girls from Grades 4 to 7," she added.
Sonne said when approached by Kabwato to run a CS First Club at VP, she was quite excited by the prospect of teaching young girls all about coding, adding that it is a field that is predominantly male orientated.
The school embarked on a partnership with Kabwato and his team of Google volunteers to start not one club at Victoria Primary School, but nine clubs – one for each class that participated.
"We are very grateful for the time spent at VP by all the volunteers – their input has been invaluable.
"We are even more grateful to be afforded the opportunity to embark on this project thanks to Mr Kabwato and his team agreeing to this partnership. No doubt it has left many unanswered questions in the minds of very inquisitive learners.
Who knows: the next Bill Gates might come from one these girls!"
anele@grocotts.co.za
