Tech company trains 10,000 youths on coding

Microsoft Nigeria has trained over 10,000 Nigerian youths on Minecraft Hour of Code Designer during the 2016 Computer Science Education Week.

Hour of Code is an annual, global campaign held during Computer Science Education Week to enable beginner coders to create and share their own simple ‘Minecraft’ game, and is designed to empower anyone to begin learning the problem-solving and critical thinking skills required in today’s tech-fueled world.

During this year’s Hour of Code, Microsoft worked with 126 non-profit organisations and other partners, in addition to 17 of its employees to hold several coding sessions in 19 states across all 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria.

In the same vein, a ‘ready, set, code’ Hackathon was organised in Lagos Digital Village to further excite and inspire young people to realise they can solve problems within a short time with the right tools at their disposal.

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Speaking on this year’s Hour of Code, Philanthropies Lead, Microsoft Nigeria, Olusola Amusan noted that out of over 10,000 trained, about 8,237 students who had no idea of coding before the sessions could understand Minecraft and build games at the end of the program.

According to the Director, Public Sector at Microsoft, Mr. Hakeem Adeniji-Adele, “This year’s Hour of Code has been very instrumental in helping to bring technology and coding closer to children and youth who are the future of our country. This was a great opportunity to show anyone that they can learn the basics of computer science in a fun and engaging way. The participants demonstrated great enthusiasm throughout the sessions, as well as the willingness to learn how to build more relevant apps and games in the future.”

“Ultimately, we are persuaded that there is greater awareness of computer science in Nigeria,” he says.

Microsoft hopes to ensure all young people have the opportunity to learn computer science, an economic and social imperative in this era of digital transformation.

It says it aims to reach students most likely to be among those without access, particularly girls and minorities.