OLC Mugoiri Girls High School's coding projects garner standing ovation at London summit

Our Lady Consolata (OLC) Mugoiri Girls High School in Kiharu, Murang’a County, received a standing ovation for showcasing its coding projects at the prestigious Flair Summit 2024 held at the British Telecom Headquarters in London.

The Wednesday night event featured a captivating video highlighting the school's impressive coding initiatives, capturing the audience's attention, and earning well-deserved acclaim.

This recognition coincided with Kodris Africa, an education technology firm offering KICD-approved content for coding education in primary and secondary schools, receiving the Partnership Excellence Award for its remarkable contributions to coding education.

The Flair Summit 2024 served as a platform for celebrating International Women’s Day collaboration.

The event was part of a business retreat that brought together Kodris Africa and Commonwealth Business Women Africa (CBW-A) to discuss their partnership on the One Million African Girls Coding Initiative.

Kodris Africa founder Mwaniki Munuhe, who received the award, later participated in a high-level debate at the House of Lords hosted by Baroness Sandip K. Verma.

The debate included executives from CBW-Africa and distinguished representatives from General Electric and Wintrade Global.

“Our mission is to democratize coding across Africa by narrowing the digital divide through strategic collaborations that reach schools and learners on the margins of society,” said Munuhe.

“We aim to push for education policy adjustments aligning with emerging trends in the 21st-century job market and to equip African students to access job opportunities globally.”

Baroness Verma said: "I am excited to note that at least Africa is not being left behind in this very transformative Fourth Industrial Revolution and that the girl child is getting her rightful place at the high table. We will spare no effort in supporting this and other similar initiatives spearheaded by Kodris Africa, CBW-Africa and other organisations taking deliberate efforts to make a difference.”

Situated in Murang'a County, OLC Mugoiri Girls High School has established itself as one of the leading national schools in the country, catering to more than 2,000 students.

The school has been posting top performance in Computer Studies; In 2022, all 55 students taking Computer Studies scored a clean A in their KCSE exam.

Last year, of the 88 students taking Computer Studies, 86 scored a straight A while one scored an A- and one a B+.

"The girls excel in technical subjects, including Computer Studies,” Chief Principal Susan Mundia said, adding; “Coding has taken the school by storm, as every girl aspires to be trained in this transformative skill, particularly those from humble backgrounds."

Jack Ngare, Technical Director in Google Cloud's Office of the CTO, who is featured in the video staged in London, emphasized the immense potential of the African continent in the global digital economy.

"Africa shouldn't be considered a place with nothing but needs. The region has a lot to give. There's a young population that is very tech-savvy. One of the things about the Kodris Africa platform is the gamification of the whole coding experience; it’s not just reading a textbook or hearing someone speak on the Internet, it’s solving a problem,” he said.

“There’s a rabbit here that needs to get to the other side of the platform and eat a carrot and you must solve the puzzle and write code for it. That makes children feel like it’s fun to learn new concepts that at some point get hard but it’s worth it.”

Dean of the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences at Strathmore University Eng. Dr. Julius Butime who is also featured on the video, emphasised the importance of collaborations with organisations like Kodris Africa to bridge the gap between early education and university-level training.

“This partnership aims to introduce young learners to the tech space, fostering their interest in tech careers and meeting the country's and industry's demands for skilled coders and application developers,” says Eng. Butime.

The One Million African Girls Coding Initiative, spearheaded by CBW-A, aims to challenge stereotypes and empower young girls with coding knowledge.

Ngozi Oyewole, President of CBW-A, stressed the importance of encouraging girls to tap into their creativity and become future champions of Africa.

Kodris Africa, the recipient of the Partnership Excellence Award, offers an interactive e-learning platform for students in elementary, middle, and high school grades, fostering algorithmic and computational thinking skills.