Students from Nii Boi Town SDA Basic School, beat 22 other schools to win the maiden edition of the inter-schools coding competition held over the weekend for selected private and public schools within the Greater Accra metropolis.
They received a brand new projector from Ghana Code Club, souvenirs from Tigo and a collection of books from EPP Books Services.
Their winning hack, a piano application was designed using the Scratch programming software. This application and their overall presentation received rave reviews from the four-member panel of judges.
Ernestina Appiah, organiser of the Hackathon and 2016 co-winner for Tigo Digital Change-makers was excited about the high levels of participation and innovation demonstrated by the children.
“The levels of participation and the keen interest of these children has been very impressive. We are really excited with what they have produced within this limited time, they have been very creative”, she said.
Touching on the importance of technology to help children become innovators, Ms. Ernestina Appiah explained that technology has become an integral part of our lives and hoped the Ghana Educations Service, school authorities, parents and other stakeholders would combine resources to enable children make the most of ICT training.
Jubilant on their victory, a teacher from the Nii Boi Town SDA Basic School, George Samatey, appealed to parents to allow their children to participate in coding clinics which are now widespread within Accra. He also wanted public schools to be adequately resourced with ICT laboratories.
A total of 150 students selected from 22 public and private schools including Hillview Montessori School, Achimota Basic School, La Cluster 2, Alzakiya Islamic Girls, Gbegbeyise Basic School, and Flagstaff House School among others participated in the maiden competition.
