Photo by: Bloomberg
A new French-sourced educational model aimed at changing the way Africans learn to code and programme would reach South Africa’s shores in January.
Nonprofit technology incubator WeThinkCode was preparing to deploy a three-year computer programming educational course to source and develop 100 000 high-potential individuals in Africa into “world-class” programmers.
The Johannesburg-based academy, which based its training concept on French-based Ecole 42’s computer-training model, already had about 1 000 students signed up for the tuition-free, peer-to-peer, industry-led and technology-based programming course, cofounder Camille Agon said at the Frontier Advisory New Tech for New Africa forum on Thursday.
All potential candidates between the ages of 17 and 35, regardless of education achievements or levels, were required to complete two aptitude tests and a four-week problem-solving bootcamp to participate.
The Johannesburg-based campus was Africa’s first academy, with WeThinkCode aiming to establish other campuses around the continent.
This emerged during a panel discussion where it was agreed that technology had the potential to transform the education system in South Africa and the rest of the continent.
Technology was able to improve education in “many ways” through the leveraging of mobile phones, tablets and computers’ access to learning material, Agon said.
However, the real disruption to current education models would be the integration of technology into the traditional education platforms, while evolving teachers, content, curriculum and students.
Technology, she added, should be used as a supplement, and not a replacement, in the classroom.
“You have to plug it into how the school system works today,” Agon noted.
“Technology was becoming a force for good [in education]. Technology is transforming the way we [approach education] and the delivery of education,” African Leadership Academy marketing and communications director Wadzi Katsidzira added.
The African Leadership Academy programme also absorbed about 100 high-potential recruits across Africa each year to complete two-year pre-university and entrepreneurship studies and African studies at its Johannesburg campus.
Technology allowed for the delivery of content outside the classroom, enabling students to learn at their own pace and prepare more effectively for the next tuition session, with the role of the educator shifting to that of a coach.
“The future is not doing away with traditional education – face-to-face education is core. Introducing e-learning platforms allow you to scale,” Katsidzira explained.
However, despite its great potential, excluding South Africa, less than 1% of Africa’s population had access to high-speed broadband, with a risk that a large proportion of the population could be left behind as the world advanced.