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Madagascar: Nurturing young children's passion for computer coding

New technologies

These Malagasy children aspire to be the country’s next crop of digital developers, as demonstrated by their passion for learning computer code.

And it is in this American bus, converted into a computer room, where they learn how to use computers and the different aspects of computing dynamics.

The students have been exploring the digital space for some time now, and with dozens of sessions, they have managed to create a video game.

One of them by the name Tiana says she spends several hours a week online. She hopes to find work later in programming.

She says: “I do not have a computer at home but I go to cyber 2 times a week, says Tiana. When I grow up I want to create something, create video games, cartoons, and also have a computer.”

And as for the digital animation volunteers who give them free classes on board the bus, the future looks bright for this children, as the program will also help them rid illiteracy.

“They can become engineers, or secure many of the other new jobs that are created almost every year in the technology arena. So they can really begin early, create start-ups to solve problems here and there, and also help us create awareness and help teach others how to code also,” says Sahaza Marline, the project manager of the “Coder Bus”.

Some 500 children from 5 areas of the capital have undergone this training for 3 weeks.

The volunteers hope that national education curriculum will integrate coding into the syllabus, as it is the case already in many countries.