Kenya’s push to equip learners with digital skills has gained momentum, with Code Clubs now crossing the 1,000 mark in schools and communities across the country.
The clubs, run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, provide free weekly coding sessions to school-age learners in 40 of Kenya’s 47 counties, giving pupils an early introduction to programming, problem-solving and digital creativity.
At Uhuru Gardens Comprehensive School in Nairobi, Grade Seven and Eight pupils spend their sessions building animations and games using classroom computers.
Felix Malombe, executive director of STEAMLabs Africa, the Foundation’s largest Kenyan partner, said his organisation supports more than 330 of the clubs.
“Before joining Code Club, many young people saw technology as something distant or difficult. Now they are building their own projects, explaining their ideas with confidence, and beginning to see themselves as creators and problem solvers,” Malombe said.
At Uhuru Gardens, teacher Levinta Adendi has run the club for six years, helping learners progress from basic computer interaction to developing their own Scratch projects and games.
“Before Code Club, many of her learners lacked the confidence to even touch or interact with a computer. Today, they are creating animations, building Scratch projects and designing games,” Adendi said.
One of her pupils, Grade Seven learner Craig, has used Scratch to create a project on climate action, showing how tree planting can help protect the environment.
“I built it to show how small actions like tree planting can help our environment. Coding makes it fun and easy to share these important ideas with others,” Craig said.
Raspberry Pi Foundation chief executive Philip Colligan said the milestone was only the beginning of efforts to expand computing education in Kenya.
“Reaching 1,000 Code Clubs in Kenya is an important milestone, but it is only the beginning,” Colligan said.
The expansion comes as Kenya prioritises digital skills under its Digital Economy Blueprint and expands digital literacy through the Competency-Based Curriculum.
STEAMLabs Africa and 10 other partner organisations support the Foundation by taking its free training and resources into schools and helping teachers run the clubs.
