In the information age, competition in the labor market is difficult in an interconnected world, where job seekers, especially young people, face a demand for skills and opportunities. Togo is no exception to this new situation. Conscious of this, all actors strive to equip young people, namely students (adolescents and students) with basic knowledge in areas related to computers, especially during the summer holidays. In addition, young students from poor backgrounds strive to raise funds for tuition fees for the upcoming school year before classes resume; even during the school year. Sometimes this leads to school dropouts, juvenile delinquency, early pregnancy and marriage (especially among girls). Yet, we have noticed that some of the injured youth master the basic functions of a computer, but they do not know how to take advantage of the unlimited web possibilities. The Coding Bootcamp organized by E2C with the support of the United States Embassy in Togo aims to bridge this gap.
General objective
The overall goal of Coding Bootcamp is to make 30 motivated and vulnerable young people, technology entrepreneurs.
Specific goals
– Teach young people how to create a website with HTML, CSS and Java Script
– Strengthen girls with income-generating activities to support their education, financial self-reliance, and self-confidence
– Promote open source initiatives and collaboration in Togo
– Reduce youth poverty
30 Students aged 18 to 25 were selected following a call for applications launched online and promoted on social networks. The following programs have furnished the Coding Bootcamp itself, which took place on November 14, 15 and 16 at the Loyola Cultural Center in Lomé:
Day 1
– Web Introduction and Opportunities: Web Careers / Social Collaboration
– Web design crash courses: Begin coding in HTML, CSS / Introduction to domain name and hosting
Day 2
– Courses on search engines and data portals
– Introduction to the production of free and free content on Wikipedia and Wikiversity
– Motivation Talk (DVC): The journey of a woman entrepreneur in technology
Day 3
– Workshop: How to create a small website in 5 hours with HTML, CSS and Javascript
– Education USA: Scholarships for GISTI –
The Coding Bootcamp saw the effective participation of Mr. Adevou Fera Ekpeh, Web designer who was the main trainer followed by Mrs. Emefa Kpegba, application developer and director of E-Technopole. The Director of Public Affairs of the US Embassy, Mike Pryor, and his team also spoke to participants about US scholarship opportunities in science and technology. The participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers of this Coding Bootcamp which allowed them to acquire valuable knowledge for free. Most of them have joined start-ups in the area, while some have started as freelance web entrepreneurs. They build websites for royalties to customers.
The major problem encountered is the poor quality of the Internet connection which did not allow to watch videos in streaming and which weighed on the respect of the allotted time.