In an effort to build on the milestones recorded by the CodeLagos initiative since 2017, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has approved the expansion of the project to enable access for more Lagos residents.

In a statement made available to Thelagostimes on Tuesday, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh stressed that the expansion phase is targeted at increasing the reach and scope of the project by setting up more coding centres across the State.

He also confirmed that the CodeLagos in-School programme for the new session has started in 648 schools across the 6 Educational Districts in the State.

“So far, over 60,000 Lagos residents from different parts of the State have been trained through the In-school and Out-of School pathways of CodeLagos. For this new academic term, we have increased our In-School centres from 337 to 648, and 226 of these schools are Government schools.

“In a bid to expand the programme, we have also reached out to NGOs and religious organizations to partner with the State Government to establish Coding centres by opening their facilities for the coding classes.   We have received good feedback from many organizations and we will commence training in these centres soon”, he said.

Bank-Olemoh who disclosed that the CodeLagos classes are totally free, said the programme will continue to train students in Scratch, Python, Mobile App development, Oracle’s Alice and Greenfoot, as well as Blockchain Technology, depending on their level.

“One of the key success factors of this program is the robust training and incentivization for ICT teachers in participating schools, who are trained to deliver coding lessons to their students.”

“Recently, 563 new CodeLagos facilitators were trained in preparation for this new term and have been deployed to deliver coding classes to students. A total of 1,005 CodeLagos facilitators have been trained and deployed to centres since the inception of the programme in 2017,” he said.

He also disclosed that plans are in advanced stages to host the first ever CodeLagos Hackathon Finale in November 2018. “This month-long competition, which commenced on October 2, is open to all computer programmers in the State and designed to encourage Lagosians to solve everyday problems we encounter using technology.

“We’re inviting contestants to provide solutions to problems in these areas: Health, Transport, Environment, Energy, Education, Fintech/Finance as well as Environment”, Bank-Olemoh said.