Digital Democracy: Teaching coding to teachers

The Durban South arm of Digital Democracy, a project of a global non-governmental organisation, Keep A Child Alive (KCA), will be hosting two free information sessions at Blue Roof in Wentworth on Wednesday, October 9 to explain their project and how teachers can enrol in a free training course in coding and robotics.

There will be two sessions held- the first at 10am and the second at 2pm. It is open to all principals and teachers from schools, grade R, and care centres. In June this year, the South African government took a bold and decisive step towards integrating coding and robotics into the national curriculum for grades R to nine supporting the notion that digital literacy is as essential as reading, writing, and mathematics.

This initiative, under the National Education Policy Act of 1996, marks a significant shift towards embracing technology and preparing young South Africans for the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and was formally approved by former minister of basic education, Angie Motshekga.

Founded in 2003, Keep A Child Alive (KCA) is a non-profit organisation that focuses on empowering young people, and provides healthcare, housing, and support services in communities in Africa and India, originally with an HIV/ Aids focus.

KCA is cofounded by Leigh Blake (American arts, film and music advocate activist, and philanthropist) and Alicia Keys (Grammy award-winning American singer-songwriter and philanthropist).

In response to the digital transformation around the world, KCA has launched Digital Democracy to address the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in the school environment and workplace. In response to this national curriculum amendment, KCA, and their Digital Democracy project, have speedily invested in the structure and logistics to train teachers and educators, providing free access to the appropriate tools to teach coding and robotics to pupils from grades R to nine. 

“Digital Democracy aims to empower teachers to teach learners coding and robotics. It is noted that further to the development of these pupil skills, this exposure also promotes pupil interest in digital transformation. This influences the subject selection of the vital STEM subjects, such as pure mathematics, physical science, information technology, computer science, and engineering graphics and design (EGD), preparing pupils for the future world of work,” explained Digital Democracy’s Kate Coleman.

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To undertake this task, KCA identified the UK-based company, Raspberry Pi who designs and produces premium software and hardware, as their project partner. In so doing, Digital Democracy is bringing Raspberry Pi technology and learning to schools around the province and nationally.

Their goal is to train as many teachers as possible, present the opportunity to make use of the online platforms and access to learning resources necessary to teach their learners. This commitment to upskilling teachers and educators comes from recent research which reveals that of the 25, 000 schools in South Africa, 60 percent of pupils have no access to computers, 80 percent of schools are not connected online, and yet up to 70 percent of available jobs today are digital.

KCA has made a commitment to address this dire need. Digital Democracy and KCA have a presence in some of the key schools in the South of Durban catchment area including: ML Sultan St Marys Primary School- with 390 of their 910 children attending coding lessons, Bushlands Primary School- with 176 of their 443 children attending coding lessons and Austerville Primary School- with 354 of their 876 children attending coding lessons.

Digital Democracy invites teachers in the South of Durban to an information session to inform them on how to enrol for this free training course. Partner schools and care centres should have five computers or devices or more available, although no internet connectivity is required.

They can, however, provide an unplugged version where no devices or internet is required. Participants will receive access to learning materials and free use of online learning platforms with ongoing support from facilitators. The workshops will be at Blue Roof in Wentworth on Wednesday, October 9.

To find out more, or to secure your place in the workshop, send an email to Kate Coleman at [email protected] or Julia Reader at [email protected].