London, Nov. 7, 2020 (AltAfrica)-A Rwandan coding academy has received a $150,000 grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support the school in its bid to bring digital education to the country

The country’s first public coding school was established to develop talent in the tech industry in order to drive the country’s digital ambitions.

It attracts high school level students who want to pursue a career in coding and computer science.

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The academy, which was launched in 2019, selects high performing students and trains them in advanced software programming and cybersecurity skills to facilitate their emergence as world-class programmers.

According to a statement from AFDB, the $150,000 grant from the Rockefeller Trust Fund, which the Bank administers, will be directed to the acquisition of computers and furniture equipment for an ultra-modern innovation centre of excellence, internet connectivity, teacher training and organization of job career orientation events.

Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister for ICT and Innovation said the partnership with the African Development Bank would elevate the standard of training in the school and bring it at par with foreign coding schools

“The Rwanda Coding Academy is part of our broader vision to grow a local pool of highly talented Pan-African workforce in science, technology and innovation,” she said, adding that the academy’s learning model requires robust digital infrastructure and a dynamic teaching approach from the instructors.

The grant will also be used to finance on-job training for teachers and equipping the school with the necessary tools to facilitate the learning experience of students.

Nnenna Nwabufo, Acting Director-General for the African Development Bank’s Eastern Region. Said the grant would have a profound implication on how the education sector can adopt an effective response to the persistent skills mismatches in the labour market, not only in Rwandan but in Africa at large.

“This collaboration between the Bank and the Government of Rwanda aims to demonstrate that empowering African youth with demand-driven skills and providing them with opportunities to be part of the ICT ecosystem as early as possible will enable them to claim their space in the digital sector and be equal drivers of innovative ideas that are shaping the present and the future of Africa and the globe,”