Ukraine: EU-funded project offers digital skills for children in Mariupol

An IT-Camp for young children and teenagers from disadvantaged groups has been set up in Mariupol with the support of the EU-funded UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme.

The school was founded by the Ilvutchenko family, designer and illustrator Halyna and web studio manager Ihor. Other camp teachers are also IT-specialists – designers, programmers, and developers. They share with students their first-hand experience and insights. The study course at the IT-camp is free.

“IT is one of the most popular and highly paid areas today,” the camp’s co-founder Ksenia Rodionova says. “Although a lot of people want to go into IT, far from all can afford it, because a high-quality IT education is very expensive. Young children and teenagers from disadvantaged groups, such as displaced persons, children affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine, children with disabilities, orphans, and children from low-income families, are deprived of the opportunity to realise their dreams.”

The children study in small groups, but the school’s owners want to reach out to an even larger audience and teach children from other towns and cities, and the team has now launched the Spilnokosht campaign to raise money with a view to increasing the number of computers and to expand classes.

Digital skills are one of the six priority areas of the EU4Digital programme, which supports the implementation of digital skills strategies in the Eastern Partnership countries, acting to establish national coalitions for digital jobs and a competence framework for small businesses.

Press release

EU4Digital eSkills