Every child deserves to be fluent in Coding
Nomusa Keninda related a very sad story about the level of crime in schools targeting schools with functional computer laboratories.
The past few weeks have been a busy one as Ms Nomusa Keninda of Mpumalanga ICT Club and her team visited schools in and around eMalahleni to introduce Tanks Coding to Grade 4 to 7 learners.
Hlangu-Phala Primary School at Ogies hosted the launch of the Tanks Coding.
The programme was held Tuesday, November 23 followed by Vuma Combined School.
“We can’t afford to leave them behind just because their schools do not have devices and connectivity,” said Ms Keninda. Tanks Coding uses a smartphone with an offline app together with cardboard tokens. It was developed by the Nelson Mandela University, Computing Science faculty under the stewardship of Professor Jean Greyling. This solution aims to introduce as many learners as we can who are between the ages of 10 and 14 years. The digital divide makes many of our learners not choose careers in the IT space and that should not be the case as the world is short of software developers,” added Ms Keninda.
Nomusa Keninda related a very sad story about the level of crime in schools targeting schools with functional computer laboratories.
“One day the school has a fully functional computer lab and the next day all 40 to 60 laptops or desktops are stolen and other devices such as Smartboards are vandalized without any trace of criminals”.
These acts of criminality are delaying progress in the acquisition of the much needed 4IR skills in our black communities.
“Tanks is fun and very educational, learners love it. Our first workshop took place at Hlangu-Phala Primary School with 100 Grade 5, 6 and 7 children grouped in six mixed teams of boys and girls. We watched them expressing their computational thinking, collaboration and team spirit skills as they move from one level to another with confidence. The room was filled with excitement, courage and learners shouted on top of their voices while clapping hands for getting the right code to move to the next level. They even composed a song, “We rise, we shine, we code; we are the children of Hlangu-Phala”.
“I aim to see all schools, especially primary schools in our rural and township introducing Tanks Coding. The club is planning a series of workshops around the schools that would be followed by a Tanks Coding Tournament early next year. We, therefore, urge businesses, municipalities and the Department of Education to support our endeavours. We offer free coding workshops for learners and teachers in the Nkangala District and those who are looking forward to our service in the province,” concluded Ms Keninda.
M Keninda is the founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club, eLearning Specialist, the UJ student towards Master of Education in ICT, Inspiring Fifty Women Award Winner and the Coding Judge for AfriCan Code Challenge in Africa.
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