The Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) and Republic Bank Limited (RBL) under its Power to Make a Difference programme have launched a new and exciting free education programme for the students of the nation called Virtual Youth Innovation Training.

CARIRI and RBL have partnered to continue to educate our nation’s youths virtually in a time of a global pandemic on the fundamentals of Coding and Mobile App Development. This programme is designed to provide young people with a modular introduction to coding using the principles of mobile app and game development. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it introduces the Computer Science field, the fundamentals of coding and the careers which can be pursued.

This programme, which is free to participants, will engage 600 youths in schools from across Trinidad and Tobago via online training to be able to understand coding and its importance in creating and building various applications, some levels also include the steps that it takes to generate and commercialize an app.

CARIRI and RBL both understand that coding is a vital skill to have especially as we move rapidly into a global community that has embraced the 4th Industrial Revolution. One of the key benefits of learning coding is that it gives students both the tools and the idea that there are many ways to solve a problem, whilst at the same time sparking curiosity, encouraging teamwork and enabling communication. Coding also requires students to think outside of the box, thereby honing their creative skills. Solving difficult problems require creative solutions, a highly sought-after skill which is often difficult to teach in more traditional classroom subjects.

Registration will begin on 15th June 2021 and the programme will commence on 26th July 2021. The programme will engage students at two different levels: Level 1 – Basic and Intermediate and Level 2 – Advanced.

The programme will be executed online via CARIRI’s FIT (Future of Innovative Training) portal where the participants will be granted credentials to the course so they can choose to log in at their convenience to access and complete the material within a specific time period. CARIRI will host a live session after each level to ensure that participants fully understand the concepts. This will be supplemented by a support period of two days which will follow to respond to students’ queries and provide any other assistance. Thereafter, participants will have an evaluation and upon success will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement.

Since 2018, CARIRI has been successfully executing ICT educational programmes and have trained approximately 2,000 students thus far, both in-person and virtually. As we engage with the new normal, CARIRI is committed to finding innovative ways to provide support and training for our nation’s youth.

To find out more information about this programme, please visit our website at https://coding.cariri4.com/or contact Alicia Williams at 309-8651 or via email at awilliams@cariri.com.