By Matthew Chandler
DMU Square Mile, a project encouraging public engagement at De Montfort University, has been running after school clubs for girls aged nine to 11 to help them improve their computer skills.
Working in partnership with TechFuture Girls, who provide the resources for these activities, and Hewlett Packard, the programmes’s sponsor, DMU Square Mile send volunteers into local schools to encourage groups of ten to 20 girls into the world of IT.
Pictured using the TechFuture Girls website is Amina Lunat, the coding co-ordinator at DMU Square Mile, who spearheads this particular campaign.
She said: “A lot of schools have given feedback that the girls feel a lot more engaged in these clubs than computer lessons, where they can feel overpowered by the boys in their class at times.
“They love the fact they learn new skills and words; they all loved to find out what a ‘hacker’ was, for example.”
Using the TechFuture Girls website, the girls learn about things like cyber security; i.e. learning how to stop the aforementioned ‘hackers’, how to build a social app and design a 2D room.
Another aim of the campaign to suggest possible future career paths for the girls, such as a web or software developer, a graphics designer or a security engineer.
This is just one of a number of successful programmes set up by DMU Square Mile; other recent projects include volunteering in local communities in New York, LGBT support training with local schoolchildren and offering free classes on dementia awareness and training to all De Montfort staff and students.
