BeCode, the coding school that offers people free training in web development, will soon also be coming to Flanders, namely Genk and Antwerp. The code school BeCode was launched in Brussels last March and a few months later a centre in Charleroi opened. In the interim, the organisation has already trained more than 150 people to work as web programmers.
And with success, Cédric Swaelens, COO of BeCode, told the VRT. "Nearly 80 percent of graduates from our first classes are now working as web developers or have started their own companies or further specialise in blockchain technology, for example.”
Now BeCode also wants to set up coding schools in Flanders. On 1 October it will officially start in Genk (Limburg), on the new technology campus T2. The organisation hopes to be able to start in Antwerp before the end of the year.
"In Flanders, companies are urgently looking for ICT specialists," says Swaelens, "and we have to appeal to all ICT talent." That is why the organisation builds as few thresholds as possible. For example, the training is free and open to young and old, girls and boys. Even those who do not have a diploma can apply.
Candidates can register via a website (https://nl.becode.org) and work on an initial exercise there. In this way they can experience or encode something for them, Swaelens explains.
Candidates must also complete a form in which their motivation and problem-solving skills are tested. In this way, the BeCode hopes to resurrect ICT talent that has slipped below the radar and help them find a job.
BeCodes goal is to fill the gap that exists between the number of vacancies and the number of qualified ICT staff. They feel it is important because the number of job opportunities will increase dramatically in the high-tech sector. They claim that no engineering degree is needed. With a logical mindset and some basic training, anyone can learn to develop mobile applications and websites and turn that into a career.
Arthur Rubinstein
The Brussels Times
