Vodacom has announced it will offer over 500 school-going female learners from across eight provinces in South Africa the opportunity learn how to code during the winter school holidays, from 24 June – 05 July 2019.

The 'Code like a Girl' programme aims to develop coding skills and valuable life skills for girls aged between 14-18 years, and encourages them to consider the uptake of ICT and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.

According to the company female participation is falling in a field that is expanding globally and men still dominate the number of STEM graduates in most countries.

"These were some of the concerns expressed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recently. According to the UNESCO report "Cracking the code: Girls' and women's education in STEM", only 35% of STEM students in higher education globally are women. For example, only 3% of female students in higher education choose information and communication technologies (ICT) studies," Vodacom stated.

The operator said the situation is also dire n South Africa and a few years ago the Engineering Council of South Africa put the total number of women engineers registered with the body to 11%. In the United States, women make up around a quarter of those in STEM occupations.

STEM fields also have fewer women on boards than any other sectors. This gender disparity is alarming, especially as STEM careers are often referred to as the jobs of the future, driving innovation, social wellbeing, inclusive growth and sustainable development, Vodacom added.

Takalani Netshitenzhe, chief officer: corporate affairs at Vodacom commented: "In recent years, there has been significant progress in closing the global gender gap in various aspects of society. However, in many countries, including South Africa, the gap is widening in STEM careers. The Code Like A Girl programme is designed to give girls an interest in a sector currently more popular with boys, helping widen their opportunities and increase their future career choices."

"For Vodacom, teaching girls how to code is the first step towards changing their outlook towards careers in STEM fields. Through this, we hope to inspire young girls to reach for the stars and pursue careers that will take Vodacom and related industries into the next digital era."

During the week-long training course, learners will be exposed to basic knowledge of computer languages and development programmes including HTML, CSS, GitHub and Version control, Bootstrap, JavaScript and Basic Computer and Introduction to Coding. They will also be taken on a fun and empowering life skills journey while developing coding, presentation and communication skills – to provide candidates with well-rounded development.

Furthermore, learners will be exposed to platforms such as Future Jobs Finder to give them information on career opportunities and encourage them to be users and ambassadors for Vodacom's e-School portal, which was introduced in 2014 to provide free internet access to quality relevant, digital education content for teachers, learners and parents. Vodacom's e-School platform has over 690 000 registered learners, who visit the portal at least once a week.

"South Africa, along with the rest of the world, is standing on the cusp of a digital revolution that will reshape the way we work, the way we live and the way we relate to each other. It is becoming clear by day that this revolution will have a tremendous impact on many academic disciplines. Therefore it was necessary for us as the country's leading digital telco to take it upon ourselves and launch this initiative to prepare young females, so they can adapt skills of the future and contribute in taking our economy forward," concludes Matimba Mbungela, Chief Officer: Human Resources for Vodacom Group.

The programme was implemented in South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Lesotho with over 755 young girls trained in 2019.