–attracting over 150 in first few weeks

THE Ministry of Public Telecommunications (MoPT) has commenced its 2019 Code Camps in Georgetown, Berbice and Linden, and has already attracted over 150 youngsters between the ages of 10 and 16.

The six-month-long course is being conducted every Saturday at the University of Guyana’s Tain Campus, the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) and the Government Technical Institute (GTI) in Georgetown.

Classes at the Essequibo Technical Institute and the New Amsterdam Technical Institute are scheduled to begin within two to three weeks.

MoPT Training Co-ordinator, Donnella Collison, said that the level of enthusiasm is very high among both the 10 to 13 year-olds attending the morning sessions, and the 14-to-16 year-olds in the afternoon sessions. The latter are mostly returning students who had participated in the 2018 camps.

Their curriculum for the next six months is made up of intermediate level training modules in Coding, Programming, web design and some robotics, all of which are being tutored by highly qualified ICT and Computer Science Instructors, Collison shared.

The Code Camp initiative was birthed in 2018, after the ministry came to the realisation that, for Guyana to thrive in the 21st Century’s digital world, our youth must know not only how to use computers, but must gain a deeper understanding of how computers work, in order to create the technology that will transform Guyana.

Code Camp 2019 is the first item on the ministry’s outreach agenda for 2019. The year’s programme includes several competitions expected to attract ICT entrepreneurs and services providers. The software/products they produce will be utilised within the national economic structure.

The last Code Sprint competition was run off in collaboration with local ICT company, Version 75. That competition was won by Team Innovative Systems, a group of young ICT specialists who designed an Agricultural Commodities Trading Exchange app to bring producers, sellers and buyers of plantains, pumpkins and other vegetables fruits and dairy products, meats and other foods into a single online marketplace. The Agriculture Ministry is preparing to launch this new app.