Investment in young technology leaders

Youth Minister Nikki Kaye today announced $25,000 of funding for the OMG Tech Youth Leadership Training Programme.

“This investment will help foster 20 young leaders from decile 1 and 2 schools to empower other young people in their communities to learn about and become familiar with using future technologies,” says Ms Kaye.

Participants in the programme will have the opportunity to learn about coding (how you instruct a computer to create software, apps and websites) as well as 3D printing and robotics, ie building and programming robots.

Minister Kaye announced the initiative today at Freemans Bay School in Auckland, where she participated in the global ‘Hour of Code’ campaign – designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics - with OMG Tech co-founder Dr Michelle Dickinson

“Through the OMG Tech Youth Leadership Training Programme, which includes mentoring with technology sector experts, participants will learn crucial tools to help them pursue higher education in science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) related subjects.

“They will also be supported to develop their leadership skills, so they can inspire other young people to follow in their footsteps and embrace the world of future technologies. Ways they could do this include growing clubs around future technology through local schools, libraries and community groups.

“The Government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in state-of-the-art digital infrastructure in our schools, and recently outlined broader work underway to enhance students’ digital fluency.

“We know that across New Zealand, uptake of devices and access to the world of online learning is rapidly growing, and the Government is committed to ensuring there’s equity of access to this world.

“We live in a time when technology is everywhere, and creations that we could once only imagine are becoming part of our everyday life.

“It’s important that young people, regardless of where they live or go to school, have hands-on access to these technologies that will shape their future.

“This programme is about encouraging and enabling better engagement with science and technology within all communities in New Zealand.”

Note for editors

Programme participants

The 20 young technology leaders will be selected from decile 1 and 2 schools, based on criteria aimed at ensuring more young people in these communities take up 21st Century skills such as coding. They will complete the programme by mid-2017.