• Lenovo South Africa has outlined bridging the STEM skills gap as a ket focus for the company locally moving forward. 
• With this in mind, it has announced a partnership with the Durban University of Technology via a newly launched Robogirl 2022 programme. 
• It will to train over 120 girls from 15 schools in grades 10 and 11 from the eThekwini area in robotics and coding.

As we have seen in recent years, there is a dearth of skills in the country when it comes to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects, particularly among young women. This is why Lenovo South Africa has announced a partnership with the Durban University of Technology (DUT) to address this in the form of the newly launched Robogirl 2022 programme.

The Robogirl 2022 programme will see over 120 girls from 15 schools in grades 10 and 11 from the eThekwini area, according to Lenovo, focusing on parts of the municipality with historically disadvantaged communities. It aims to expose these learners to the concepts of coding and robotics, and potentially foster greater interest in those subjects to pursue it at the tertiary level.

Lenovo adds that the programme will culminate in a competition between schools, which will allow the various teams to witness their peers’ innovative and unique approaches to the same challenge. It should also be noted that Lenovo is a bursary sponsor at DUT for its many of its IT-related courses as well.

“Lenovo is extremely passionate about upskilling women and female learners in the technology arena and helping to bridge this gender gap. We believe the most innovative solutions can’t be created without diverse perspectives, and therefore we are investing in such programmes,” added Yugen Naidoo, GM of Lenovo Southern Africa, regarding Robogirl 2022.

Here’s hoping the programme is successful, and can be rolled out to other regions across the country in the coming years.