News

Kelly wants to see Coderdojo clubs all throughout Europe

October 16th, 2015 7:15 AM

By Southern Star Team

Sean Kelly MEP, centre, with CoderDojo Global CEO Mary Maloney, right and Coder-Dojo co-founder Bill Liao .

Share this article

About 40 young European CoderDojo members, including Irish visitors, were treated to a trip to the European Parliament buildings in Brussels by MEP Seán Kelly last week.  

ABOUT 40 young European CoderDojo members, including Irish visitors, were treated to a trip to the European Parliament buildings in Brussels by MEP Seán Kelly last week.

CoderDojo, which originated in Cork, now has 860 clubs running in over 59 countries giving over 25,000 young people with the opportunity to learn how to write computer code. 

‘It is a hugely important movement which I am delighted to have supported since its inception. I am rallying fellow MEPs in the Parliament to join me in promoting CoderDojo in their own countries as ambassadors for the volunteer-run clubs,’ Mr Kelly said in Brussels.

‘Digital literacy is fast becoming an essential competency for everyone living in this connected world. According to a recent European estimate, by 2020 Europe is expected to face a shortfall of more than 900,000 technically skilled employees. Despite the need for young people to learn technical skills, few are given this opportunity,’ he said.

The annual #EUDojo event in the EU Parliament hosted by MEP Sean Kelly saw 40 young European CoderDojo coders, some aged as young as 8, showcasing their coding and technology skills and teaching MEPs their first lines of code. At the event, the young people taught MEPs how to create a basic HTML website.

An industry panel made up of members from Microsoft, Salesforce, Liberty Global and CoderDojo co-founder Bill Liao, was moderated by Mary Moloney, Global CEO of CoderDojo.

 The ‘Pledge a Dojo’ campaign which began on October 1st, aims to get as many individuals from across Europe to pledge to start new CoderDojos in their communities, and to give young people in their localities the opportunity to learn to code in a fun safe and social environment.

 ‘These coders are some of the most impressive children you will ever meet,’ said the MEP. ‘The Dojo clubs give them confidence, social interaction, and hugely beneficial digital and coding skills which are in huge demand in the labour market.’

Share this article