South
Africa’s leading network operator, Vodacom, has launched its “Code like a Girl”
program for girls in Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng provinces.
The one-week #CodeLikeAGirl
training program, which aims to inspire girls to explore a career that requires
coding skills to help them get a start in the Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics (STEM) fields and industries, will see over 250 girls between
the ages of 14 and 18 receive training skills in coding.
Vodacom's "Code like a Girl" program was introduced in 2017 and implemented first in South
Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC, and Lesotho. Officials say the program has trained over four thousand girls in South Africa since its inception.
It also
believes that investment by Vodacom in digital skills training programs for
young women will help to narrow the gender digital divide at an early age in
South Africa.
Participants
of the program will be taking through knowledge of computer language,
robotics, and development programs, including HTML, CSS, GitHub and Version
control, Bootstrap and JavaScript, Basic Computer, and Introduction to Coding.