By Chisomo Phiri
Ladybird Private School in Blantyre has organized coding sessions for kids to be held at its premises in Upper Chinyonga on Sunday,November 19, 2023.
The coding sessions are targeting kids aged 6 to 13 and will start from 1pm to 4pm.
The facilitator for the coding sessions will be Dr. Bennett Kankuzi, who is also a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Head of Department of Computer Science and Information Technology at the Malawi University of Science and Technology(MUST).
In an interview, Dr. Kankuzi said he will facilitate the sessions as part of community engagement in imparting coding skills to Malawian kids as early as possible.
Said Kankuzi :”I joined first year of my undergraduate studies in 1998 at University of Malawi (Chancellor College) having not touched a computer before.
“However, I immediately fell in love with computer programming when I got introduced to it, such that even when I joined medical school to train as a medical doctor in 1999, I returned back to computing school, the same year, to pursue a career in computer science, a career I was never aware of before joining university.”
He added :”From 2004 to date, as an academic computer scientist, I have introduced IT as a career, through computer programming to many university students, some of whom, are now professional software engineers.
“Times have now changed. Computer programming is an art and science that is indispensable in this digital age. Kids need to be introduced to computer programming at an early age. An early introduction to coding is one way of achieving this.”
Ladybird Private School was established in 1990 by Mrs.Joyce Jaffu, and it is located in Upper Chinyonga, Blantyre.
In 2015, the school’s premises were leased to other institutions with similar business interest until 2023.
The School has now been reopened by Mrs. Joyce Jaffu’s daughter – Jacqueline Jaffu-Pangani and it offers nursery, reception, lower primary and upper primary.
The school is currently offering MANEB curriculum with secondary school to be reintroduced in 2024.
Its website is https://www.ladybirdprivateschools.mw
