Tel Aviv Municipality launches program to teach asylum seekers coding
Some participants are apparently seeking professions in hi-tech, while others wish to open their own businesses.
By CODY LEVINE"Introduction to Coding" pilot course for asylum seekers at The Platform(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality has launched a new program for asylum seekers, organized by urban entrepreneurship center The Platform and PresenTense, that will teach them how to code, according to the municipality.Organized in conjunction with the African Refugee Development Center (ARDC), a non-profit founded in 2004, the program seeks to empower African refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers. As part of the coding and the entrepreneurship course, the target is to provide advanced and high-paying opportunities for high-risk communities.Titled the “Introduction to Coding,” it will provide basic coding and entrepreneurial skills to asylum seekers in order to generate more opportunities and provide and base for future education. The course itself is part of the "Made in Tel Aviv" program support by the municipality and entrepreneurship school PresenTense. The course is structured around a ten-week pilot course that introduces 10 students to Python programming and other coding skills.“We are incredibly proud to have hosted this course here at The Platform in Neve Shaanan, opening doors of opportunities to marginalized communities. Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality believes that technology has the power to be a great equalizer and that diversity drives innovation. The dedication of the students in the course exceeded our expectations, with students never missing a class and improving their skills in such a short time. We hope this will be the first of many,” said Shana Krakowski, director of The Platform.The course is also taught in multiple languages; Arabic, Hebrew and English. Some participants are apparently seeking professions in hi-tech, while others wish to open their own businesses.Fisseha Tsegai Tesfamichael, an asylum seeker from Eritrea and graduate of the course, described his experience in the course, saying, “My hope for the future is to teach young people from my community and share with them what I know and have experienced. I want to give whatever little I have to marginalized communities – I can understand their difficulties. The journey of life is short, so let's make the world better together.”“Our goal at PresenTense is to identify existing gaps and address them by making the ‘Startup Nation’ accessible," said Khouloud Ayuti, co-CEO of PresenTense. "There are many socially-marginalized communities that don’t take part in the thriving tech and entrepreneurship ecosystem. We are grateful to have had this opportunity to bring the employment possibilities of the 21st century to the asylum seekers and migrant workers in Tel Aviv-Yafo and look forward to our continued joint work.”
