The Soronko Academy is training the next generation of tech entrepreneurs
After opening its doors to aspiring coders in Ghana last year, the Soronko Academy is now aiming to introduce its curriculum to public schools across the country, according to CEO Regina Honu.
Located in Accra, the Soronko Academy is the first coding and human-centered design school for children and young adults in West Africa – and the latest in a long line of community-focused technology initiatives developed by Honu.
Speaking during a webcast hosted by ISACA last week, the Ghanaian entrepreneur detailed the success of the Tech Needs Girls project, which has now impacted 4,500 young females across the country and was recently exported to neighboring Burkina Faso.
“One of the challenges that we were having with this program is that we would have all these amazing coding workshops, but the girls would not be able to practice because they didn’t own a device,” explained Honu.
“We decided that we had to give more structure, so we set up the first coding academy. We have classes for children from five to 17 years old. It’s a safe space where they have access to devices and can keep coming to practice.”
As she looks to develop on the success of the Soronko Academy, Honu said a new scheme is being piloted in a private school in Kumasi, where coding has been introduced as part of the curriculum.
“We are hoping that what we learn from the program will advance the curriculum,” she said. “We also hope that we can work with the government to scale to more schools.
“For us, what would be a great next step would be to get our curriculum into all public schools across Ghana so that we can reach out to more and more girls and more and more young people.”
“Technology is driving everything around us, and this is going to continue,” Honu added. “It’s essential that we get children and young girls interested in technology as early as possible.”
Click here to learn more about the pioneering work being conducted by women in cybersecurity.