Nairobits hosts its graduation ceremony at GoDown arts center. The graduation ceremony saw 150 web developers and designers receive certificates in their respective fields.
The school has given a platform to a number of youths in Nairobi who wishes to develop their skills in design. They use ICT multimedia to improve the lives of less privileged children and youth from the non-formal settlement. According to Sheila Zubedah, a graduate from Nairobits, “life in Nairobi is very hard and most parents don’t have the finances to take children to luxurious schools. However, organizations like Nairobits are a blessing to everybody and it’s good if communities come together and embrace such initiatives.”
According to reports, an estimated population of 7 million in Kenya luck basic human needs including education, with 50% to 70% living below poverty line. The organization came in to reduce the gap by providing intrinsic ICT solutions for the youth. Ideally, 70% of the urban informal settlement youths can now access Information Communication Technology which if developed can increase chances of the youth to get employed in the fast growing tech business market since mobile penetration in Kenya is more than 82.6 per cent with about 33.6 million subscribers.
Although, ICT enhancement in schools is very expensive and the few schools that are privileged to have computer labs and skilled facilitators are out of reach for many people. According to Nairobits, the school offers flexible courses that suit a common Nairobian way of life. The school’s course I training takes two months and a total of 150 youths are trained in each course. FHOK training centre offers Course II and III where students are introduced to web design and in total a 60 students are trained for six months. Course IV, the Media Lab takes place at the NairoBits GoDown offices and a total of 50 students per course are trained for a period of six months.
The graduates were given a chance to join the Andela Movement which is a four-year, paid Technical Leadership Program designed to shape upcoming software developers. Through Andela’s training and work with top global technology companies, developers master the professional and technical skills needed to become a technology leader, both on the continent and around the world.
Andela is just one of the open platforms that the students were given. The organization secured employment in both formal and informal sectors and the measured success rate of employment is at 90% from the past graduations.
“We are looking forward to working with Nirobits to uphold the local domain field because it’s not tapped very well. I would like to challenge all the graduates in creating and promoting the .ke domain. For the students, this is a starting point and the future is bright.” Said Ahmed, a representative from Kenic.
