This Tuesday, the 2018 call for applications was launched, offering 2,000 new places for this free programme based on a distance learning model through videoconferencing, with teachers who are working in leading technology companies. Likewise, the Labour Intermediation Service was launched, which seeks to ensure the labour insertion of young programmers in the form of internships.
Miguel Brechner, president of Plan Ceibal, told the newspaper that the programme "is evaluated very well, not only programming was taught but also soft skills [aptitudes, personality traits, knowledge and values] and English; in addition, we are doing very well with the issue of internships thanks to the commitment of companies to take them on". Among the next challenges they are looking for "sooner or later this will be accredited as a valid course by some of the technological institutions in this country, and that is what we are working on; we also want people to transmit that this can be done and that more people do it because we urgently need them, technology is not only for groups of engineers but for everyone".
The director of Jóvenes a Programar, Carinna Bálsamo, told the newspaper that the next stage is divided between the Labour Intermediation Service and the new edition of the programme. Regarding the first point, Bálsamo said: "Companies are already thinking about projects that can receive these children, as these resources were not available on the market until very recently. It is a shorter and more targeted training, which starts from the companies themselves, with their own contents. They are setting up new projects with new clients, also as a way of incorporating them. The idea is that they are going to be inserted as interns or full-time employees and they will have a slightly more important accompaniment because they will have to continue training, both technically and in transversal competences and English". Among the areas that could receive them, technology is the one that concentrates most of the possibilities; however, "any industry that has a computer centre can use the knowledge they have," said the director.
A system of sponsors will also be implemented for the graduates: "We want to involve the technology sector. The idea is to involve them in the labour intermediation service by offering workshops, telling the kids how to enter the labour market and strengthening their training from that point of view," Bálsamo said.
Regarding the second edition of the programme, the director stated that the goal is to reach 2,000 young people. To this end, they will call on students between 17 and 26 years of age who have completed the third year of high school or UTU. The organisation assures that no previous knowledge in the area is required. Registration is open and the selection process will be carried out during the summer, so that it will be possible to start with the final groups in March.
With this objective in mind, new alliances are being sought with companies in the technology sector, which will make it possible to continue to increase the number of job offers and incorporate more technicians to teach the courses. Among the innovations for next year is a pilot plan to "introduce a teaching model called 'inverted classroom'. Now we are evaluating it; it involves working more in a workshop mode, so that they can see the theory at home and bring more practical problems to the classroom, because they are learning from the trade, the value that the technical trainer gives them is that practical work together," said Bálsamo.
At the same time, the programme aims to "consolidate the new model that has been created; teaching programming from a distance, from practice at a distance, is already something quite innovative". In Brechner's words, distance learning "is something that is here to stay", and he pointed out that "through a videoconference we give classes in remote places, whether it's English, Youth Programming or other subjects". "It's something we] evaluate well, we have to keep adjusting. Obviously it's much better to have a teacher in the classroom, although the presence by videoconference is much better than just something online," he added.
Tribute
As of Tuesday, the initiative began to be called Jóvenes a Programar Álvaro Lamé, as a tribute to one of the promoters of the programme, founder of several of the technology companies that are now in the Uruguayan market and former president of the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology. In revealing the new name of the programme, Brechner said: "It is a very good tribute to Álvaro and a reminder to all those who are entering the industry, by one path or another, to know that there are references from whom it is good to learn; in the ICT area he is a reference. It is very important for us and puts us in the commitment to be more responsible so that this does not fail".
Source: La Diaria
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