Coding Dojo, AXSOS Academy Train Young Palestinians for New Careers in Tech

Coding Dojo, a global technology education company, announces its partnership with AXSOS Academy in Ramallah to train young Palestinians for careers in tech through coding bootcamps, supported by the Palestinian government.

With unemployment at 43% in the region, AXSOS AG and Palestinian ministries are working with Coding Dojo to deliver a 16-week program for 18-35 year-olds in the West Bank so they can pursue careers as software engineers and web developers. With 2,500 applicants to its first cohort, AXSOS Academy is considered one of the most promising educational projects in Palestine in decades.

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Many of the first cohort’s alumni, who just graduated in March, have already secured well-paying jobs notwithstanding the harsh conditions job markets are undergoing due to the pandemic.

Highlights of the program’s first cohort include:

  • Ghada Qaraeen, a 23-year-old woman from Jerusalem, studied business administration and was working at a tourism company when she decided to pursue a career in engineering to support her father’s IT startup. After graduating from the program, she’s now a front-end developer for her family’s startup.
  • Mohammad Donbok always wanted to become an entrepreneur. While studying, he built up an online store to sell accessories while also working as a waiter. With the coding skills gained at the Academy, he now joined ITVenue, a young Palestinian start-up.
  • Mohammad Shanabli worked as a civil engineer. This year, due to COVID-19 and the situation in Palestine, he started struggling to find work, and decided to make a career change. Today, he is a software developer at Asal Technologies, one of Palestine’s most prestigious tech companies.

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AXSOS AG, a German IT-company, has run a subsidiary in Ramallah for more than ten years and is dedicated to contributing to the economic development of the region. This aligns with Coding Dojo’s mission of providing students with the practical coding skills they need to succeed in tech careers.

“The early success of this partnership demonstrates the global need for skilled developers to build a 21st century workforce,” said Richard Wang, CEO of Coding Dojo. “Creating economic opportunity for those who need it most is core to our mission. We’re thrilled to be working with the Palestinian ministries and AXSOS Academy to deliver on that mission for these inspiring young Palestinians.”

The program’s second cohort of 86 students, double the size of the first cohort, are already midway through their training and expected to graduate mid-August, with a third cohort slated for Q3 of this year. Moving forward, the program’s stakeholders aim to offer additional cohorts for up to 7000 students over the next years, as well as expand the available educational courses to also include emerging technologies such as data science.

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