Microsoft Africa, publisher ink pact to support coding students

Microsoft Africa, an online publishing firm and Credit Bank have inked a deal to support the teaching of coding as a subject in primary and secondary schools in efforts to enhance digital literacy.

The partnership comes less than a week after a coding syllabus developed by Kodris Africa, an online publishing firm, was approved for use in Kenyan schools.

Coding, which is also known as programming, involves translating human intentions into commands that can be understood by computers.

The partnership will promote Kodris Africa Studio by students in Kenya and later be rolled out into the rest of Africa. The studio is an online platform where the content is loaded.

“We have built an online studio so that the learners and teachers can access the content online,” Kodris Africa CEO Mugumo Munene told the Business Daily. He added that individuals will have a free trial (15 tasks) after which they will pay Sh330 per week for access.

“This partnership marks an important milestone towards making coding a reality for learners across Kenya and indeed the rest of Africa,” Mr Munene said.

Kenya is the first African country to approve this kind of syllabus. Kodris will be offering the syllabus in another 48 nations on the continent.

Kenyan Children join a list of growing giants like the United States, England, Finland, France and Germany who have made coding as a key area of study in their curriculum.

Credit Bank CEO Betty Korir said the lender will support schools using the platform as part of its contribution to social impact in the education sector.

“We are doing this to prepare the young Kenyan citizen for the future workplace,” said Ms Korir.

Digital literacy is a key plank of the competency-based curriculum that has now been rolled out in Grade six, the final level of the primary school cycle.