Skillsoft and iamtheCODE announce strategic partnership to enable 1mn young women and girls to learn how to code by 2030
Jeff Tarr of Skillsoft
Skillsoft, a global specialist in corporate digital learning, announced a strategic initiative with iamtheCODE, the African-led global movement to mobilise government, private-sector, and philanthropic foundations to advance STEAMED education for women and girls in marginalised communities. The partnership is designed to support iamtheCODE’s mission to train 1 million women and girl coders worldwide by 2030 and is consistent with Skillsoft’s social impact mission to open doors to new possibilities through learning.
To start with, iamtheCODE will be launching its digital learning platform powered by Skillsoft’s Percipio in Africa’s refugee camps where tens of thousands of young girls and boys will have online and offline access to one of the world’s intuitive learning interfaces. The curriculum focuses on teaching four core, in-demand programming languages (HTML,CSS, JavaScript, Python), as well as skills development in wellbeing, design, innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship in alignment with their 12 week mentoring program.
Concurrent with International Women’s Day 2022, this partnership is designed as a model of public and private cooperation that aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to empower marginalised women and girls across the world. iamtheCODE’s mission is a direct implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to improve economic outcomes for women and girls and is also a focus of the World Economic Forum’s Reskilling Revolution.
Lady Marieme Jamme
“With Skillsoft as our partner and the use of Percipio, iamtheCODE is now well positioned to meet our ambitious goal of enabling 1 million young women and girls to code by 2030,” says, iamtheCODE CEO and Senegalese born, Lady Marieme Jamme. “Africa is home to 1.3 billion people and this initiative addresses our technology and skill development needs to achieve sustainable scale in the continent including an encouraging and intuitive interface, online and offline learning in several modalities, and a data driven approach to accurately measure the effectiveness of our programs.
This is the platform where young girls can go and learn how to code and is a significant milestone for helping us reach our goal and more importantly helping the young girls achieve theirs. Africa’s need for coders and skilled programmers is growing rapidly. I believe this historic partnership will enable qualified coders who can finally support African growing industries. We need girls to be part of it.”
“Like iamtheCODE, Skillsoft shares a deep and lasting commitment to its social impact mission and providing access to learning and skilling opportunities for underserved populations,” says, Jeff Tarr, CEO, Skillsoft. “Today marks an important step in our journey and we are delighted to provide skill-building content and access to Skillsoft’s Percipio platform to help young learners unleash their full potential. Lady Mariéme and the team at iamtheCODE are inspiring a generation to master skills they need to foster their development and gain employment, dignity and economic independence.”
“This is truly a historic and pioneering approach to addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” says, Lady Marieme Jamme. “What Jeff and Skillsoft have done will change the lives of many people and give the opportunity they never had.”
Comment on this article below or via Twitter @IoTGN