Kaitlin and Thabiso top of the class in iLembe ICT Project Launchpad
Both winners were surprised about their achievements, neither having done coding prior to starting their studies through the project service provider, IT Varsity.
Two local youths studying coding – creating instructions for computers – have won the iLembe ICT Project Launchpad competition ahead of 52 entrants.
KwaDukuza’s Thabiso Ndlovu and Mandeni’s Kaitlin Pillay each won prize money of R10 000.
They entered the competition as part of the Vuthela iLembe Local Economic Development Programme’s iLembe ICT Project.
Of the 52 youths enrolled in the project, 27 qualified and set about designing a technical solution to a problem faced by a local business.
Ten were chosen as finalists, who then had to present their websites to a panel of judges and explain how they went about developing them.
The judges were made up of some of the project steering committee members – Wiseman Cele of the KwaDukuza youth office, Fanele Mazibuko of Enterprise iLembe, and Shannon Moffett of the Vuthela programme.
Judging was done on the extent to which the website met the needs of the business or NGO, the technical proficiency of the website, creativity, and how the youth communicated to the judging panel.
Kaitlin and Thabiso received their prizes from Gisela Roth, visiting from the Swiss offices of the Vuthela funders, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Judith Shoniwa of the South African SECO office in Pretoria.
Both winners were surprised about their achievements, neither having done coding prior to starting their studies through the project service provider, IT Varsity.
Totally online, the youth are making use of the Enterprise iLembe incubator and the Moses Kotane Institute Digital Centre in Mandeni to complete their 12-month course.
Kaitlin now hopes to go to university next year to study computer science, while Thabiso has also been bitten by the tech bug and is planning to enrol in college to study systems development, a new passion he has discovered during his studies.
Follow The North Coast Courier on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for breaking news
Telegram Broadcast Service: https://t.me/joinchat/yJULuN8NaCs5OGM0
WhatsApp Broadcast Service: Add The Courier to WhatsApp at 082 792 9405 and WhatsApp your name and surname to be added.
Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.
Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here, or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.
