The School of Programming is jointly organised by doMEn company and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Montenegro. The school is entirely free of charge and is intended for children age 11 to 18. The applications for the new generation of students are open until September 18th. For more information visit www.stemedukacija.me.
It has been proven, again and again – given the right tools and proper mentoring, children are set up for academic success. While there are numerous ways of accomplishing this, enrolling a child in programming classes can yield some surprising results.
Here is why. Learning the basics of programming helps children improve their mathematical and writing skills, develop curiosity and gather a better understanding of our more-technical-by-the-day world.More importantly, having your child learn the basics of programming can do wonders for their self-esteem, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills. All while allowing them to explore their creative side and have some good old fashioned fun with their peers.
Knowing this, as doMEn, a private company which is in charge of Montenegro’s national internet domain – .ME, was setting its roots back in 2008, arose the question of Montenegrin youth and local educational prospects. Firstly, what are we as a community doing to motivate youth to acquire new skills and interests? And secondly, how are we contributing towards the demystification of programming?
Investing in the Future of our Children
As is the trend in many countries across the world, the Montenegrin labour market faces a gap when it comes to the demand of software engineers and the actual number of people with programming skills. Being aware that programming was not a part of the official curriculum, the team behind .ME realised that this gap will scarcely be bridged by the traditional educational system.
Seeing an opportunity to contribute to the community, doMEn partnered up with the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Montenegro and formed Montenegrin’s first doMEn School of Programming. The school is intended for children age 11 to 18, is completely free of charge, and it operates throughout the school year.
The beginnings might have been humble, as in 2009 the School aimed at preparing younger generations in Montenegro for international competitions in informatics and programming. Nonetheless, 11 years later and 1000 students who have graduated, the outcome speaks not only of success stories but also of unforgettable experiences and friendships to last a lifetime.
As this year marks the 11th anniversary of the School’s founding, it is interesting to see what the students of the very first generation have accomplished so far. It turns out that not only their devotion to programming remained, most of them continuing to pursue a degree in software engineering, but that some went on to become founders of tech startups, work as teaching assistants at some of the world’s prominent universities, and lead successful careers in some of Montenegro’s biggest tech companies.
Teaching children programming in 3 phases
With the founders’ vision growing, the doMEn School of Programming expanded as well, whereby creating a learning process that would follow one simple flow.
First phase: DoMEn’s Programming School
DoMEn’s Programming Schoolis a stepping stone for all young people who are interested or have an affinity towards the world of programming. The School is organised in such a way to suit children who are just becoming interested in programming, as well as those who seek to develop their knowledge further.
The School begins each year in September and follows the academic year. It enrolls hundreds of children from both elementary and secondary schools in Montenegro. Yet, the program is designed to evaluate the children’s knowledge of programming languages and interest for the same. Based on the findings, children are assigned to one of the five categories taking into account their age. The school offers courses in a range of programming languages, such as Scratch, C++ and Java, as they believe that not only these are basic languages suitable for beginner programmers, but they are also the most used in practice.
Since the school is based in the capital of Montenegro – Podgorica, the founders wanted to make the knowledge and tutorship available to all children in Montenegro, regardless of the municipality they live in. Therefore, all the material is shared electronically via e-mail and Facebook, to both interested students and teachers in elementary and secondary schools. Materials can also be found on www.stemedukacija.me website, which has been specifically designed by doMEn to promote available STEM programmes for children in Montenegro.
Second phase: Summer Programming School
During the summer vacation, the children are invited to attend the Summer Programming School, where, for 11 years straight, students have had the opportunity to further improve their knowledge of the C++ programming language.
This programming summer camp lasts for 10 days and is held in nature, which provides for a fun and exciting learning process. For the added efficiency of summer lectures and better performance on the side of children, the summer camp is also jointly organised by DoMEn company and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Montenegro.
While the experience is certainly unforgettable, the practice has shown that the combination of nature, vacation, fun and irrevocable motivation, speaks only of success.
Alas, what could be better than spending a summer doing what you love with your friends while being surrounded by nature?
Third phase: DoMEn Cup – The Online Competition
But what happens when the child shows significant progress and is ready to test its skills and knowledge and ‘level up’?
To meet the challenge, DoMEn and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Montenegro have created DoMEn Cup, the only online programming competition for primary and secondary school students in Montenegro.
The competition brings together the best young developers in the country. It confronts them with stimulating challenges and teaches them critical thinking, resourcefulness and perseverance.
The competition is alike similar competitions in the surrounding countries. The students go through 3 rounds, where they are expected to solve problems using the C / C ++, Java, Pascal and Python programming languages. Best of all? The competition is entirely online, so it is open to elementary and high school students of all grades and levels of programming knowledge, no matter what city they come from.
The champions of the DoMEn Cup are determined by the points collected in all three rounds.
Don’t be weary – It’s your turn to apply
It goes without saying that children are the world’s greatest treasure. The one which we must nurture, guide, and prepare to flourish. While initiatives like doMEn’s School of Programming are pivotal in the development of our society, our own actions today will define the direction in which the society moves towards.
At last, applications for a new generation of DoMEn Programming school will open in September 2019. Know someone who might be interested? Visit www.stemedukacija.me site to find all the details about the application process!
