Three Rwandan students have been selected to take part in the African Code Challenge. The competition is slated for November 2021 and participants from Rwanda include Kessia Kundwa Ineza from ESCAF Primary School who emerged first at national level, Stanley Magede Takunda from Discovery International School who came in the second position and Kenzo Orion Rwema from Dove International Montessori School in the third position. The African Code Challenge is an initiative of Germany System Analysis and Software Development (SAP) implemented in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Irish Aid organisation. Kenzo Orion Rwema (R) received award from Ildephonse Mungwarakarama, Ambassador of Africa Code Week in Rwanda. The initiative aims to increase digital literacy in Africa where the program trains children in computer programming. Ineza worked on a project dubbed “Malnutrition Game.” The game was developed using scratch programs and it helps and teaches players to eat healthy food. “When the main character in the game eats healthy food, it increases chances for long life scores. And when the character eats unhealthy food, they reduce their life score. The secret I used to win this competition is ‘believing in myself,” she said. 8-year-old Magede worked on the “Fighting global warming game project.” His game encourages players to plant trees and save the Sahara desert. He encourages other children to join competitions like this. For 11-year old Rwema, his “Master Jump game” teaches how to fight COVID-19 by respecting protection measures (social distancing, wearing masks and others). Kessia Kundwa Ineza receives award from Colm Brophy, Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora in Ireland. “The competition gave me a platform to showcase my ability in using scratch,” he said. Ildephonse Mungwarakarama, the founder and manager of Children’s Creativity Lab, and the ambassador of Africa Code Week in Rwanda, under which the code challenge is organised, said the competition inspires children to start innovating and using computer programming skills to come up with solutions to community problems. “This is the second time Rwandan students compete. Last year they participated and three national winners also competed at continental level, and one of our children ranked 9th in Africa,” he said. Magede Stanley Takunda (R) receives award from Albert Mutesa, the Secretary-General of the Rwanda National Commission for UNESCO. Colm Brophy, Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora in Ireland, attended the ceremony to award the three winners at national level in Rwanda. He said that supporting education through science, technology, engineering and mathematics like coding will help kids build skills for themselves. “It is a wonderful competition and project in building education for young children. Coding is part of the world today, countries should invest to create opportunities for young people at a very early age,” he said. The competition is conducted in 54 African countries including Rwanda. About 25 children participated in the competition at national level.
