Microsoft remains committed to upskilling youth through its YouthSpark cash grants
Digital skills are becoming essential for the jobs of today and tomorrow. From digital literacy to computer science education, these skills can open the door to greater economic opportunity in the workplace of the future. Unfortunately, across the Middle East and Africa these skills are beyond the reach of too many young people.
Microsoft believes in a future where every young person has the skills, knowledge and opportunity to succeed and has made a commitment to impart digital skills to 10 million youth in the region in the next three years.
Its long-lasting initiative, YouthSpark, helps bring this to life by working to empower all youth to imagine and realise their full potential by connecting them with greater opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship. The initiative achieves this through unique programmes and partnerships with governments, business and nonprofit organisations such as Code.org.
For example, Microsoft partners with Code.org each year during Computer Science Education Week for Hour of Code. This is a global movement attracting more than 100 million students in 180 countries and is an effort to spark an interest in coding. Hour of Code encourages students of all ages to try their hand at coding for an hour. For the past three years, Microsoft has released Minecraft tutorials, which students can make use of to learn the basics of coding.
Partnering with the nonprofit sector
Across the Middle East and Africa, the nonprofit sector is playing an integral role in upskilling the region’s youth with the resources they need to be empowered in the digital economy. Through its YouthSpark cash grants, technology and resources, Microsoft helps these organisations to provide digital skills and computer science education for all.
In keeping with this, Microsoft is partnering with 15 nonprofits in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa this year to put in place the resources and training needed to upskill 1.4 million youth in computer science.
YouthSpark cash grants are awarded to nonprofits with a mission that aligns to Microsoft’s focus on computer science education. The aim is to help increase the number of teachers and youth-serving organisations that have the capacity to bring digital skills to youth. More than 13,000 educators will receive training to teach digital skills to youth, with the intention that at least 80 percent of the beneficiaries will represent underserved communities and 50 percent will be female.
The proof of this approach lies in the nonprofits that have received YouthSpark grants previously and as a result have been able to introduce new or develop existing computer science education programmes, training and activities for the youth they serve. With continuing investments, they have also been able to expand these offerings to reach a greater number of youth and generate excitement around computer science.
Digitally empowering Nigerian women
The Zariah Elizabeth Foundation (TZE) was established in Nigeria with the aim of developing capacity and skills in the country’s youth through ICT training. The non-profit implements its programmes through sensitisation, awareness, periodic trainings, advocacy and lobbying of policy makers.
In collaboration with UNESCO’s “School Meets the Learner” initiative, Microsoft has partnered with TZE to upskill 50,000 girls between the ages of 11 and 21 years in digital skills, and 35,000 in computer science, in the next year. This is part of the nonprofit’s efforts to empower Nigerian women. Particularly in the North East region of the country, many girls are not currently enrolled in school.
The project will be implemented through a train-the-trainer programme in UNESCO community centres, to prepare 2,000 teachers and trainers to effectively teach digital skills across the six local governments in Bauchi State in North East Nigeria. These community centres will also serve as learning hubs.
Driving CS education policy
UNDP Egypt’s vision is to support Egypt’s vision for sustainable development for all by developing innovative, people-centred solutions. The nonprofit was founded in 1953 and first partnered with Microsoft in 2003.
The organisation uses the grants to develop specialised CS workshops to upskill trainers and underprivileged youth. It also provides continuous support for basic digital literacy training at youth centres, IT clubs and schools in underserved communities, while creating awareness and excitement for the digital era through youth empowerment.
In addition, UNDP Egypt uses the funding to develop its digital skills strategy with the aim to advance the national education public policy of CS education in Egypt. It does this through an advocacy group, which monitors the implementation of the policy and focuses on leveraging CS education in schools and community centres.
The nonprofit plans to use this year’s grant to train more than 1,000 trainers in 200 centres, which will result in 250,000 youth being trained on CS technologies, 30,000 receiving digital literacy training, and 30,000 attending business training to encourage them to start their own businesses.
Empowering youth to achieve more
In a world where digital skills are fundamental to success in so many environments, leaving people in the dark about this major part of their world amounts to an unacceptable gap in their education.
Microsoft believes technology should be an equalising force in the world—inclusive, not divisive. So the company is investing its greatest assets—its technology, grants, people, and voice—to advance a more equitable world where the benefits of technology are accessible to everyone.
For more information on Microsoft’s Digital Skills programme, YouthSpark cash grants, click here.
