Sisters of Code is proudly announcing a new collaboration with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications CBRD Fund which brings new opportunities for developing Sisters of Code Ambassadors club in 2022 and 2023. This 2 years partnership will enable to provide free leadership and coding skills trainings to the future Ambassadors, as well as establish new Sisters of Code clubs across Cambodia.
To support the economic advancement of the Kingdom of Cambodia, education is the key. By ensuring innovative, skills-focused, and inclusive educational program, as well as growing interest in technology among female students, we directly contribute to the country's development. Sisters of Code offers a unique 16-week program to help future ambassadors of the program to discover their full potential and grow into real leaders to make a positive impact in their communities. Students in this program will learn from experts in technology, leadership, project management, and more. The course consists of 5 modules and will be held on Sundays for 16 weeks, to make sure trainees can combine this program with studying or working. To make sure trainees from provinces can benefit from the program too, students can choose to study in-class at IT Academy STEP Cambodia facilities or online.
In 2021 Sisters of Code has successfully implemented Sisters of Code Ambassadors program for the first cohort with 15 trainees, who later created 5 clubs giving an opportunity to 76 girls from 17 provinces in Cambodia to join the program for free. Taking into considerations the insights and learnings from the first cohort, the new program in 2022 will be improved to deliver even better results and reach as many students as possible.
CBRD funding allows to eliminate a major barrier to access quality digital education for many girls from public schools - as often their families are not able to support extracurricular activities for their children. That is especially difficult when general society has little understanding in the field of technology and its' benefits. According to the data from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, as of 2020 only around 10% of female students in Cambodia choose to study technology related majors. Thus, funding would largely contribute to the possibility to engage more students, who would not have a chance to participate otherwise. Sisters of Code aims to impact those who need it the most and provides a unique opportunity for girls and women in Cambodia that have never existed before. We appreciate that 100% of our graduates would recommend this program to other girls and often get amazing scholarship opportunities to continue their education in the field of IT both in Cambodia and abroad.