VVOB's Scratc²h 2050 Project, funded by Belgium through the Wehubit programme and implemented by Enabel, aims to equip secondary schools in Kayonza district with the competences needed to initiate and facilitate afterschool coding clubs for secondary school learners. By introducing the learners to Scratch, a free coding tool, the project aims to develop their creative, problem-solving and collaborating skills, helping them to thrive in a digital economy.
During this last month (June 2022) of the project, we had a pleasure of having the Wehubit programme team joining us for a visit to Lycee St. MarceL de Rukara, a mixed secondary school located in Rukara sector, a semi-urban part of Kayonza district.
How Father Uwizeye got into coding
Visitors Arnaud Leclercq (Wehubit Manager), Emilienne Umuraza (Enabel Rwanda), Innocent Ntaganda (Kayonza District Director of Education) and VVOB Scratc²h team were warmly welcomed at Lycee St. Marcel by Head Teacher Father Jean Uwizeye. Father Uwizeye joined the school last year. Back then, he was impressed to find a Scratch coding club in place at the school where boys and girls were programming impressive projects, ranging from calculators, biology projects to games.
“When I went to the coding club for the first time, I made two important observations: first, I noticed the enormous motivation and enthusiasm of the learners. If we let them, the learners would code all day and all night. My second observation was that the learners can do stuff, the teachers don’t know how to do. That is why I decided to support and encourage the teachers to be confident facilitators of the learning process rather than instructing programming itself,” said Father Uwizeye.
Nurturing young Rwandans to pursue their interests and dreams
Father Uwizeye indeed sees a vital role of teachers in nurturing the ideation process that precedes the actual coding. In this phase learners discover more about themselves, their interest and even their deepest aspirations. Father Uwizeye tells the story of a student Abayisenga Eduige: “She developed a game on gender-based violence. During this process she found out that she is really interested in psychology and wants to go to university to study this subject further”.
Inspired by Rwandan Tech companies
After this interesting conversation, Father Uwizeye and his teachers wanted to show the visitors from Enabel how much enthusiasm the learners in the coding club have. The learners were also eager to showcase their projects and the motivation behind them.
King Moses’s project is about technology advancement in Rwanda. He was inspired to start his project following an exposure visit to Rwandan technology companies in Kigali. The aim of such exposure visits is to link the curriculum to the world of work, to demonstrate the potential of coding skills in today’s tech companies, and to trigger students’ curiosity for a career in ICT and more. These exposure visits offer a practical opportunity for learners and teachers to understand why coding skills are important in today’s digital economy, and how such skills can be used. One of the companies visited by the learners in May 2022 is Andela, a global job placement network for software developers.
“When I went to Kigali for the exposure visit, I got to know the company, Andela. Their story was very inspiring and made me believe I can be a coder,’ King Moses says.
To be continued
Wrapping up the day, the Wehubit Manager, Arnaud Leclercq concluded: “The Scratc2h 2050 project is a success story. A key factor for this success is the combination of a strong public partner namely Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), a strong implementing partner (VVOB) and a thoughtful methodology.”
“The future will show how we can use these lessons learnt and key success factors beyond the borders of Kayonza – the district of innovation and opportunities,” said the District Director of Education Innocent Ntaganda.
Visit our resource library of materials developed during the Scratc²h 2050 project implementation. These materials are designed for secondary school teachers and learners in Rwanda and consist of:
- a pedagogical guide
- instructional videos
- lesson plans
- unplugged coding activities
