Kids turn up for holiday java programming boot camp at Strathmore

NAIROBI, KENYA:  A lot more parents living in Nairobi City have this year-than in any year before- taken an interest in a tech mentorship program for school going kids organized by Strathmore University’s @iLabAfrica Technology Research Centre.  

The oversubscribed program designed to introduce Nairobi kids to programming has surprisingly caught the eye of parents who laud the mentorship, tinkering and tutelage boot camps as beneficial. 

“It does not matter if he ends up in a career in Technology, I want him to know that programming is the future, and that I made effort to get him to know it early,” said Dan Maina, a parent whose child is at the camp. 

Strathmore University’s Tracy Weru, who is in charge of the ongoing program said overwhelming parents’ response recorded this year hinted to changing mindsets for Parents.  “Apps like M-Pesa, WhatsApp, facebook and others that are popular in Kenya have helped parents understand the potential of programming and they want their kids to develop an early interest,” she said. 

The kids IT boot camp program has been going on for several years. This year, the organizers had introduced entrepreneurship training this season, targeted at already tech savvy kids, to get them to know how to negotiate and place value on their work, creations and app. “It has elicited a lot of interest from parents. We are looking at a possible extension,” Ms Tracy said.  

The holiday Boot Camp started on April 7 and targets primary and high school students. 

@iLabAfrica Director Dr. Joseph Sevilla said previous years Kids Boot Camps has been poorly attended but its popularity had grown tremendously with some kids never missing any of them. “We are seeing that more parents now appreciate the promise IT holds. It is a good thing for innovation and the future,” he said.  

Strathmore University’s @iLAbAfrica has been at the heart and navel of mobile apps development and IT innovations. It is home to the Safaricom Academy, Samsung, Oracle, and Ericsson Research labs among 4 other labs and runs an arm called @iBizAfrica that incubates students with brilliant ideas helping them turn them into viable business enterprises.  

Dr Sevilla said during this boot camp, kids are taught programming and by the end of the two weeks can create their own games, make 3D animation and program animated stories in addition to being able to publish their applications online. 

 “It is possible also that when these kids create games, animations  and apps, that they are sharing them with other students at school leading to the growing interest from many other Nairobi children in programming. During each boot camp, we are inviting motivational speakers and successful tech leaders from companies kids already know about to share their experiences,” he said.