In June 2018, Outbox together with Moringa School implemented the first class of Outbox EDU Moringa Prep, with the objective of upskilling individuals with limited or no experience with the fundamentals of software engineering. This initiative graduated a total of fifteen (15) amazing students.
Outbox EDU Moringa Prep is now receiving applications for its second cohort; due to start on 12th November 2018. To apply, visit http://bit.ly/2Ro09NQ
The first Outbox EDU Moringa Prep class attracted students of Law, Business Computing, a firefighter and a student of Public Health; just to mention. Regardless of their diverse backgrounds, all the applicants were unified by their desire to learn code and gain programming skills.
Sarah Kulubya, a student of law was amongst those who applied for the first cohort. Her appreciation for notions like Artificial Intelligence inspired her to enroll for the programme as a step towards grasping these concepts.
“I study Law which is an unrelated course to coding but I wanted to open my mind to another way of thinking. I enrolled for the Outbox Moringa EDU programme because I wanted to learn a new skill,” she said.
Jacob Okia, a Firefighter with the Civil Aviation Authority, passionate about coding and programming was thinking of a career change, and the programme presented him an opportunity to learn a skill that would launch him on a career path he was seeking to venture into.
Patience Ankunda, a former student of Architecture at Makerere University was always the girl who would come up with all the creative ideas but not the one to implement them using code. The EDU programme, she says, was a great platform for her to get hands-on training in programming.
According to statistics released by the National Planning Authority in 2017, only 90,000 people get something to do in Uganda out of 700,000 who join the job market every year regardless of qualification.
Ideally, nine out of every ten Ugandans who have achieved any form of academic qualification cannot find a job; and this was attributed to amongst other things, lack of skill. This, coupled with underemployment are some of the biggest challenges currently affecting Uganda’s job industry.
In an industry such as this, it is important that everyone takes it upon themselves to vigorously pursue personal skill development in order to fit into the constantly changing market space.
Lifelong learning is key to developing one’s skills as well as workplace and professional success. However, personal-professional development requires that one identifies the skills they need to advance and then seek out trainings that will develop those skills.
In partnership with Moringa School - Nairobi, Outbox is running the second cohort of the Outbox EDU Moringa Prep course which amongst many things seeks to equip young people with skill sets and experience they need to transition into the workplace.
According to the Outbox lead, Richard Zulu, Outbox EDU does not only skill students but also helps them launch into the industry an employable resources. He says, students who take part in this five- week long programme will at the end be able to build basic web pages and understand the fundamentals of front-end development and programming.
”Outbox EDU is not just about learning code. It's an opportunity to launch your tech career, build your portfolio, sharpen your development skills and widen your network which increases your chances of employment."
The programme also helps students build their portfolio and learn business management in preparation for the marketplace. Participation in the programme requires that the applicant is computer literate, passionate, has a tech mindset and desires to pursue a career in technology.
Steve Jobs said “I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think”. At Outbox we say, everyone who wants to become a world class developer should enroll for Outbox EDU Moringa Prep.
