Piloting Inclusive ICT training with Outbox
The ICT field not only offers a lot of employment opportunities but also bridges gaps faced by many persons with disabilities, allowing them to enhance their social, cultural, political and economic integration in communities by enlarging the scope of activities available to them. To capitalize on this, we recently partnered with Outbox to pilot an inclusive cohort of the EDU Prep II ICT training program.
About Outbox
Outbox is a technology-based innovation hub in Kampala that assists new and upcoming African technology entrepreneurs with work space, business incubation and technical training programs. Through partnerships, Outbox helps them raise money for their ventures and access markets. Outbox also works with students, developers, researchers and organizations to build inclusive communities that entrepreneurs can tap into for talent and collaboration.
Outbox joined Make 12.4% Work Initiative in October 2018 with a specific interest in exploring opportunities for a joint initiative on accessible technology. To start off the journey on disability inclusion, we piloted an inclusive cohort of the Outbox Training Program EDU Prep II; a course is designed for beginners to learn the fundamentals of programming and for more established developers looking to sharpen their base of front-end skills. The 2019 class that run from 4th March to 5th April 2019 had five youth with hearing impairments attend and actively participate.
Upon completion of the course, the graduates have been invited to participate in the EDU Core Course; a 15-week full time program that delves deep into Programming languages and software to prepare budding programmers for a career in the field. This year’s EDU Core Course will run from 2nd September – 29th November 2019.
Alumni of the EDU Core have been able to secure employment opportunities with more than 50 hiring partners all over the African continent. We hope to ride on the success that Outbox has achieved through the program for the youth with disabilities we plan on supporting in the 2019 EDU Core Cohort.
Outbox also recently invited students with disabilities to introduce them to the SafePal App; a mobile application that gives young people the opportunity to confidentially report cases of sexual violence and links them to the nearest service providers for help.
We commend Outbox for the commitment to learn and grow in relation to disability inclusion and are excited for the future of our partnership!
