ACCENTURE in the Philippines once again has teamed up with Code.org to support Hour of Code meant to promote adoption of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young Filipinos, especially the female population, so as to establish a balanced pool of highly skilled information-technology (IT) talents for the IT-business process management (IT-BPM) industry.
“Technology is changing the way we work and live. It is extremely important to get students interested in and exposed to technology, specifically code, which is the language that powers technology, at an early age so that they understand the way things work,” said Ambe Tierro, Accenture Delivery Centers for Technology lead in the Philippines. “This will also give them an appreciation for technology and encourage them to pursue studies and careers in STEM.”
Globally, Accenture started to tie up in 2015 with such international nonprofit organization since this largest educational event worldwide is in line with the company’s interest, advocacy and line of work
Now on its second year, Accenture in the Philippines has enjoined more young girls to raise more awareness and interest on technology, which used to be the domain of their male counterparts.
“We’re very excited about this because one of our objectives is to promote STEM and, then, also with special focus on girls,” she said. “It’s a good equalizer if they know technology, if they’re empowered, and they can get employed in this field. So that’s one of the emphasis [of this activity].”
While globally, the number of women taking up computer science course or STEM is declining, Tierro said that there’s no available statistics in the Philippines that show the same trend.
“But based on our entry-level [jobs here], there’s still enough [female employees]. With K to 12 getting introduced, there’s a track already, [so] we just want to make sure that girls are also taking up STEM, not only boys. We have to catch them early and we want to make sure the diversity continues,” she said. Held during the National Computer Science Week early December, Accenture hosted in its facility in Eastwood, Quezon City, a special “all girls” coding session with select 7 to 12 years old (Grades 4 to 8) daughters of its technology employees and students from Food for Hungry Minds school, an organization dedicated to providing poor children access to quality education.
This was followed in other sites of the company—five in Manila and one in Cebu—with a total of 180 kids in attendance.
Other similar activities were, likewise, conducted by Accenture in public and private schools, such as the Elizabeth Seton School in Imus, Cavite, with more than 30 Grade 7 students; Bagumbayan Elementary School in Manila, 50 Grade 6 students; Ilaya Barangka Elementary School in Mandaluyong, over 60 Grade 6 students; Cebu National Science High School, 35 Grades 7 and 8 students; PAREF Southridge, 80 Grade 4 students; and Saint Paul Collge, Pasig City, 80 Grade 6 students.
“So this year [2016], we target around 500 kids aside from the 1,000 pledges,” Tierro said, expecting they will be feted again as one of the top 10 geographies of Accenture worldwide with active participation to Hour of Code.
In 2015 the Philippine subsidiary of such global professional services provider generated 800 pledges and conducted two external sessions with two private schools.
Internationally, Accenture had 196 cities participated in 56 countries for Code.org’s event and made more than 12,000 hours of coding.
“Accenture is [and will continue to be] a staunch advocate of developing the talent of the future in the IT-BPM industry and is a proud supporter of activities, such as Hour of Code. It is through such initiates that Accenture helps encourage and create a culture of innovation to help enhance the Filipino students’ knowledge and understanding of the latest technology trends and developments that are not only relevant for their future job prospects, but also to allow them to create a greater impact in the way the world works and lives,” Tierro said.
Accenture is a multinational that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Code.org is dedicated to expanding access to computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color.
After launching in 2013, it organized the Hour of Code campaign, which has introduced over 100 million students to computer science to date and partnered with 90 public-school districts nationwide.
With Efleda P. Campos