Adopt a School!

Primary education was targeted because most ICT teachers in Romania have no training in computer science or programming, and equivalent private coding courses cost around 150 euros — unaffordable for families with a precarious material situation when the average salary in Romania is 500 euros.

To blend technology into the learning environments of primary school students so they can develop the digital skills needed for jobs in the modern, digital world.

Partnerships between schools and local IT companies set up free Coding Clubs in schools, organised and mentored by volunteer IT professionals from the adopting companies. The programme runs annually over 6 months and is now in its third year of implementation, and now also includes company visits and, starting this year, hardware donations to schools in need.

Participants learnt how to independently create animated stories and games. At the end of each school year, 5th grade pupils who had participated in the initiative had achieved better ICT performance than those who had not participated, based on informal interviews with ICT teachers; no formal indicators were applied.