Coding4Mandela: Cape Town libraries join national coding competition

• Libraries in Cape Town, including those in Kloof Street and Kensington, will host coding sessions on Mandela Day as part of a project by Nelson Mandela University and the Leva Foundation.
• The initiative aims to expose children to coding using offline applications like TANKS and RANGERS, with top teams advancing to national and global competitions.
• The project emphasises teaching valuable skills such as problem-solving and computational thinking in a fun and accessible way.

Libraries in Kloof Street, Vredehoek, Observatory and Kensington are some of several across the City of Cape Town that will take part in the coding action and will host in-house sessions on Thursday 18 July, Mandela Day.

Those with the highest scores will go through to the national competition in October and then the World Tournament in December.

Last year, 26 teams battled it out with this figure set to increase this year.

Coding is an engagement project of the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) computing sciences department and the Leva Foundation.

Tangible Africa is responsible for creating coding applications TANKS and RANGERS, which allow participants to play offline, using minimal resources.

Speaking to People’s Post previously, Byron Batteson, a software developer for Amazon, said he aimed to make the game into a more accessible medium, like mobile devices, and run it offline so that it can reach more children (“Ocean View Library crowned as champions at local coding tournament”, People’s Post, 25 July 2023).

READ MORE | Ocean View Library crowned as champions at local coding tournament

Unplugged coding allows libraries to bring coding to communities that do not have access to expensive resources.

By downloading TANKS or RANGERS, which are 7 MB, participants can play offline, using the app and the tokens from the game packs.

Prof Jean Greyling, Head of the Department Computing Sciences at NMU and founder of Tangible Africa, explains that the purpose of the project is to expose coding to learners.

“Coding is one of the scarcest skills in the world. Especially in developing countries, millions of children do not have access to computers and are thus not exposed to these careers. Our project introduces coding to learners (and teachers), with no need for electricity, internet or computers, in a cost-effective way, with a low barrier of entry.”

Fun

He explains that learners are learning valuable lessons in a fun manner.

“In addition to being exposed to coding, the game and preparing for the tournament enhances other 21st century skills such as problem-solving, strategy, computational thinking, and group work. Because of the competitive nature of the game and tournaments, coding has also been raised as an important event in schools.”

According to Greyling, about 30 000 learners will be taking part in the #Coding4Mandela at around 100 sites across South Africa as well as across Africa.

“This then culminates in our World Champs on (Thursday) 5 December. Last year, we had 55 teams from 22 countries competing, using our virtual tournament app.”

He explains that this past weekend they launched their Speed Stars app, an F1 game using the same coding principles as their previous apps.

READ MORE | MonSA launches groundbreaking computer coding program to empower Kensington and Factreton communities

“The launch took place at Silverstone Grand Prix where it was a great hit with learners as well as many adults. Soon, we will also launch Code Cup, in partnership with well-known Soccer clubs. Our #coding4Mandela song was created by Tebogo Matlou from Tzaneen, especially for Mandela Day. Schools are challenged to create and record their own group dance.”

More than 30 teams will take part in the upcoming tournament as some libraries have partnered with their local schools.

The winners of the library-level competition sessions will be entered into a database with their scores and times, and the top three teams from each area (north, south, east and west) will then move on to the final round.

Twelve teams

The finals will be hosted on Wednesday 31 July or Thursday 1 August and the twelve teams will go head-to-head to determine the top three City teams.

These three teams will be in the running to represent Cape Town in the national and World Tournament competitions.

Last year the final tournament drew participants from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Germany and the United States of America and the three participating City libraries placed in the top 10.

READ | Pinelands library joins quest to give more youth access to coding

Patricia van der Ross, the Mayco member for community services and health, said children learn through play and coding is a fun way to improve logic and problem-solving skills.

“Since coding was introduced to our libraries two years ago it has grown in leaps and bounds.

“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 top winners of each area will be invited to play to determine the winner of the City of Cape Town libraries in August.

• To find out more about coding visit your library or contact info@levafoundation.org.