GIRLS CAN CODE - Womanity Foundation

GIRLS CAN CODE

GOOD QUALITY EDUCATION NOT ONLY IMPROVES STUDENTS’ ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION, IT ENHANCES LIFE SKILLS AND INCREASES A GIRL’S PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES.

AND THIS, ULTIMATELY, LEADS TO A MORE EQUITABLE AND PRODUCTIVE SOCIETY.

We started our work in Afghanistan back in 2007 as one of the few NGOs present in the country focussing on challenging gender stereotypes.

34,200 girl students and 1,110 teachers have benefited from our work so far.

2007 to 2018 we ran our ‘School in a Box’ programme to promote girls empowerment through a good quality education. Our holistic approach included teacher training, improving school infrastructure, community engagement and health and hygiene education.

Since 2016 we’ve been running our Girls Can Code programme, teaching coding in four Kabul high schools. Our aim is to close the gender digital divide and empower girls in Afghanistan.

In 2019 our GCC programme touched the lives of 564 young Afghan women. Many of our students (148 in total) learnt coding skills, including HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, JQuery, SQL, PHP and WordPress. Meanwhile 206 students took part in English classes and 210 students took part in computer literacy classes. In total, 78% of students completed the class they enrolled in.

According to an external evaluation conducted in 2019 by Samuel Hall, students in GCC report a positive experience in attending the courses including acquiring new tech and softskills that they believe are useful in the many sectors they might decide to work in. They also expressed increased feelings of self-worth, self-efficacy and self-confidence.

CLASSES IN 2019

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR UNIVERSITY

As part of our drive to get more girls into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers, Womanity prepared 785 students for the national exam – known as The Kankoor Exam - to enter university. The preparation course lasted 80 days, after regular school hours, and focused on mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology. Of the 436 students tutored in 2018, 53% took the exam and of them, 95% passed. Results for 2019 tutored students will be available in 2020.

In 2018, we started to upgrade our computer labs with new equipment, installing additional generators to operate computers during frequent power cuts. Also, 778 books were distributed to the schools’ libraries.

We also organised capacity building workshops for trainers on Wordpress and LaRavel framework. Additionally, trainers organised peer-to-peer workshops on different aspects of teaching such as methodology, time and classroom management, confidence in class and conflict management in class.

ROLE MODELS & SOFT SKILLS

SCHOLARSHIPS TO UNIVERSITY

To support GCC graduates in pursuing careers in the tech sector, Womanity provides scholarships to meriting students. In 2019, six alumni obtained this scholarship which covered their university costs.

“With the support of Womanity, I am able to continue my education, and I can fully focus on my studies. It was really hard
to be under pressure of bad economic conditions at the same time as being

a successful university student. I am thankful to Womanity for providing such an opportunity. This scholarship will help me pursuing a career in the Tech sector”. Mehra, GCC in 2018, now a student in the Isteqlal private university.

From 2020 to 2022, we will run our pioneering training courses in four of the largest girls’ high schools in Kabul, providing access to a better skill set to 600 students each year.

Give Afghan girls the ability to dream!

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