500 fresh graduates to receive free IT training

Exciting times ahead for over 500 fresh graduates set to benefit from free software development training.
The programme which will seek to recruit students who have demonstrable passion and basic software development knowledge is being implemented by Clarke International University in partnership with Laboremus Uganda Ltd and NGO Fontes Foundation.

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has committed NOK16.4 million (about Shs7b) to the project for over a four-year period.
The overall budget for the academy is approximately NOK30 million (about Shs12.9b), according to a statement issued by the university.

Ms Joanitah Nalubega, the university's programme associate said in the statement that: “Whereas the focus will be on fresh graduates from IT related discipline, students from other disciplines will have equal opportunity of being admitted. The programme believes in creating a co-creation environment where technology is an enabler rather than an end in itself. It is envisaged that over 500 persons will directly participate in the programme with another 2,000 benefiting from the outreach programmes.”
The first cohort will commence in March 2019.

Admission
Students will be admitted into the Accelerated Learning Course (ALC), a focused three-month programme that includes training in leadership, critical thinking, IT project management, as well as introductions to different technologies.
The most accomplished students will then go for a six-month immersive boot camp, where a key component is practical learning through projects with industry partners.
The academy will be followed by the Last Mile Training (LMT), a programme that gives the most capable-graduates the opportunity to work at an elite ICT company for six to 12 months. “The graduates will work on live client projects with close guidance from senior software developers,” Ms Nalubega added.

According to Mr Andreas G. Koestler, the managing director, Fontes Foundation, Norway, the Foundation has been working actively during the last six years to increase employability of youth and to close the gap between education and market demands for talented youth in the developing society of modern Uganda.
“We are privileged and proud to have now the opportunity to take this experience together with CIU and Laboremus to the next step by expanding into the ICT sector for the future of the country,” he said.
The executive director of Laboremus Uganda Ltd, Mr Bram van den Bosch, also said he was hopeful that the partnership would offer a tremendous boost to Uganda’s ICT sector.