Seventy-six learners and 45 teachers from 12 regions are taking part in an ICT bootcamp at the Berg Aukas Youth Training Centre in Otjozondjupa. 

The week-long programme focuses on robotics, coding and artificial intelligence, as participants prepare for Namibia's National ICT in Education Convention and Exhibition in October.

The training brings together learners, teachers and ICT practitioners from across the country, with a focus on developing practical digital skills and innovative solutions to everyday problems.

Otjozondjupa Regional Director of Education Gerhard Ndafenongo says the bootcamp provides participants with practical exposure to emerging technologies.

"We want you to be busy here with coding, robotics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and all those things of digital citizenship, technology integration, and participation so that you gain the exposure, the advice, and the experience that will then make your product more marketable and innovative so that it can be shown at the national level."

Ndafenongo says the transition from a regional event to a national platform means learners must produce projects that demonstrate creativity and practical application of ICT, noting that the programme is also aimed to empower teachers to become ICT champions in their schools, particularly where technical support is limited.

For facilitator Theresia Nangolo, the focus goes beyond simply teaching learners how to use technology.

"We are now here to prepare these learners by training them on AI, artificial intelligence, coding, and robotics. So, our focus is more to go deeper on the machine learning to understand exactly how AI works, how it functions, and how to actually end up coming up with their own AI. And then also coding using block programming to incorporate visuals, because that one makes it easier even for our grade fours to understand coding rather than jumping into it without seeing what actually happens."

The training caters for learners across different phases, from Grades 4 to 7, Grades 8 to 9, and Grades 10 to 12.

For learner Zambwe Njenjema, the experience is already translating classroom concepts into potential solutions to real-world challenges.

"It's been really enlightening. The things that we've been taught here can really be put into real-life perspective. Those are the things that they're teaching us. The things that they have taught us so far are block coding on Kitten, more block coding on Scratch, and looking at the problems that Namibia is facing to find out new ways to further reduce the problems or outright stop them." 

And with Namibia preparing for its first national ICT in Education Convention and Exhibition, the bootcamp is giving these young innovators an early opportunity to put their digital skills to the test.