Belmopan. June 21, 2019. The Directorate General for Foreign Trade (DGFT) has partnered with the Belize Coalition of Service Providers (BCSP) and the Belize Association of ICT Professionals (BAICTP) to host the first Society of Women Coders (SOW) Camp for Girls. It will engage the intellectual curiosity of Belize’s young women and provide an atmosphere for learning a skill which can develop their appetite for IT.
SOW Coders is a non-profit organization based in New York, U.S.A and led by young women working in technology. The organization’s mission is to encourage young girls from developing nations to opt for careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) by conducting free coding and information camps for them in their country.
The camp is designed to bring together high school aged girls, who reside in Belize City and Belmopan, to learn the fundamentals of computer programming and stimulate the next generation of Belizean programmers. Ninety (90) girls from the following schools are expected to participate in the camp: Sadie Vernon Technical High School, Gwen Lizarraga High School, Anglican Cathedral College, Wesley College, Maud Williams High School, Excelsior High School, Belmopan Comprehensive School, Belmopan Methodist High School, Our Lady of Guadalupe High School and Belmopan Baptist High School.
The camp signals the launch of the first phase in what is deemed as the maturation process of the industry and branding of the Professional Association and the Coalition of Services Providers. Having an active professional association that holds a vested interest in the education sector will contribute to the development of a cadre of well-balanced young professionals functioning at the higher end of the services value chain.
The camp will be held from 24 to 28 June 2019 in Belize City and 1 to 5 July 2019 in Belmopan. Venues for the camp will be Gwen Lizarraga High School in Belize City and Belmopan Comprehensive School in Belmopan, respectively.
The media is hereby invited to the opening ceremony on Monday, June 24th at 1:30 p.m. at the Gwen Lizarraga High School.
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