Guyana Aims to Train 150,000 Students in Coding

Guyana launched an initiative aimed at educating 150,000 school children in coding and software development.

President Irfaan Ali hinted also at plans to make coding part of the high school curriculum, announcing that his government has partnered with the United Arab Emirates on the initiative.

At an event organized to kick-start the program, Ali assured that the coding program would position Guyana as “a major player in the global technology” market.

The training program is the first of its kind in the region and will be delivered online.

If it proves successful, Ali said, he would expand the initiative to other member countries of CARICOM, whici is headquartered in the Guyanese capital, Georgetown.

It seems Guyana was inspired by the UAE’s “One Million Arab Coders” project. Launched in 2017, the UAE’s initiative does not seem to have generated skilled software developers for the country. The oil-rich Gulf nation is still heavily dependent on foreign workers to power its IT infrastructure.

That is because those who want to pursue a career in coding need to have excelled in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects.

Guyana is the only country in South America where English is the official language, but it still has a long way to go to convince its students to pursue STEM subjects.