Guyana Coders Initiative pilot launched in Guyana; plans to expand across Caribbean Community

The Guyana Coders Initiative, and online pathway for persons to become certified software developers, was launched in Guyana earlier today and should be introduced across the Caribbean soon.

President Dr Irfaan Ali today launched a first of its kind programme to train 150,000 Guyanese in coding for software development and in Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Students across Guyana gathered for the inauguration of the initiative being provided through a partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This aligns with the Government's plans to establish Guyana as a zone for data banks and data services on the coming years.

Furthermore, the Head of State has indicated plans to open the programme up to more countries across the region.

“We will work on opening up this platform so all the countries in Caricom can benefit from this coding initiative we have launched today.”

He added that the local private sector also has a role to play in this, “we want corporate Guyana to open up your offices after work and welcome

Through the guyanacoders.gov.gy website, students can sign up to take the course of their choice for free, and attend virtual classes to become certified as a professional software developer.

Students can choose any developer tracks offered by Udacity and the Dubai Future Foundation, namely; programming fundamentals, android kotlin developer, data science fundamentals

Director General of the Office of the Prime Minister UAE Abdulla Lootah says the main goal of the Coders Initaitive is to nurture young digital talent, affective preparing them for the digital workforce of the future.

“At the practical level, powerful examples of functional skill sets in the digital economy include the following;

1. Transformation of interactive web pages through the programming track

2. Turning complex data into fascinating narrative through the data science track

3. The acceleration of android apps from scratch through the android track.”

This initiative will equip youths with the skills needed to gain careers in web development, software engineering, movie animation, etc.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand reflected on the importance of integrating technology for learning. She is eager to see youths implement the skills gained from this initiative.

“I’m looking forward to those apps and other coding products you’re going to make.”

“We already this will be a great success and the uptick will be so high, you may want to increase your numbers after this.”

This initiative aligns with the Government's plans to have digital education at the core of the Secondary education system.

The Ministry of Education is also working to implement smart classrooms in every secondary school in Guyana.