Cape Town’s libraries are gearing up for an exciting coding challenge on Mandela Day this month.
Also read: City libraries shine in the #Coding4Mandela World Championship
A total of 38 libraries will host in-house coding sessions, which could lead those with the highest scores to go through to the national competition in October and then the World Tournament in December.
More than 30 teams will compete this year, compared to 26 in 2023. The winners of the library-level sessions will be entered into a database, while the top three teams from each area of the City will move on to the next round.
These teams will represent Cape Town in the national and World Tournament competitions.
Cape {town} Etc discount: Looking for things to do in the city, at half the price? Get exclusive offers here.
Last year, participants from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Germany and the United States of America joined in the final tournament. The top three participating Cape Town libraries placed in the top 10.
As per the City, coding is an engagement project of the Nelson Mandela University Computing Sciences Department and the Leva Foundation. Tangible Africa creates coding applications, TANKS and RANGERS, which allow participants to play offline using minimal resources.
Libraries can provide coding sessions to communities that do not have access to expensive resources, thanks to ‘unplugged coding’. Participants can play TANKS or RANGES offline by downloading a 7MB app and using the tokens from the game packs.
‘There is no doubt children learn through play and coding is a fun way to improve on logic and problem-solving skills. Since coding was introduced to our libraries two years ago it has grown in leaps and bounds,’ says the City’s Mayco member for community services and health, Patricia van der Ross.
‘Coding also enhances creativity and because they have to come up with solutions, they can’t procrastinate. I want to encourage our young patrons to sign up and get involved at their library. It’s a few hours of social and recreational interaction.’
The first round of coding mini-competitions will take place at the following libraries on Mandela Day, 18 July:
- Adriaanse
- Athlone
- Belhar
- Bellville
- Bishop Lavis
- Bonteheuwel
- Bothasig
- Brackenfell
- Crossroads
- Delft
- Durbanville
- Edgemead
- Elsies River
- Goodwood
- Hanover Park
- Harare
- Huguenot Square
- Kensington
- Kloof Street
- Kraaifontein
- Kulani
- Lansdowne
- Leonsdale
- Lotus River
- Moses Mabhida
- Mowbray
- Observatory
- Ocean View
- Parow
- PD Paulse
- Pinelands
- Plumstead
- Retreat
- Rocklands
- Southfield
- Town Centre
- Valhalla Park
- Vredehoek
The winners of each area will face each other to determine the winner of the City of Cape Town libraries in August.
For more information, contact [email protected].
Find you perfect set of wheels with these incredible deals on cars for under 100k. Find car listings here.
Also read:
Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook
