Google promotes STEM education in Africa, reaches out to 200,000 children

Google on Thursday said it was promoting Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) education across Africa and reaching out to 200, 000 children within the ages of nine to 16 through its CS First Initiative.

CS First said is a global programme of Google to improve the digital skills of children withing ages nine years to 16 years and develop their critical thinking abilities and problem-solving skills.

CS First Programme Lead at Google, Mrs Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the children would be trained free through Google’s 55 partners across Africa,  with about half of them from Nigeria.

She told NAN that the CS First had  geographical spread and that the partners had reach in different places.

According to her, there are tools to monitor progress as well as carry out quality checks to make sure that the partners  carry out their responsibilities and make impacts on the children.

“The children have tutorial guidance.  To work with their assignments, there is actually someone tutoring them with  videos; without physical teachers, they are able to progress.

“Our goal is to reach about 200, 000 children with our CS First initiative;  we have started, our partners are on ground and have started the CS in Nigeria.

“It cuts across public and private schools for CS First; specifically, one of the key factors is infrastructure to be able to deliver it.

“Google knows that one of the biggest strength of Africa is the youth population,  and they have one disadvantage which is that they are unemployed.

“They need necessary skills to access the right jobs,’’ she said.

According to her, the skills include problem-solving skills and critical thinking abilities which coding would help to develop.

Aderemi-Makinde told NAN that CS First was ongoing  and that Google also supported other initiatives, including Africa Code Week.