Page 23 - Thetha Issue 6
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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY




               Coding-without-computers project
               changing lives and futures








































              KEYBOARD                                                            A group of learners play TANKS under


              WARRIORS                                                            the watchful eye of Madiba on Mandela
                                                                                  University’s South Campus in Gqeberha.



            by Nicky Willemse
                                              bursary to attend IT-strong high
            When Zwide youngster Culumanco    school Alexander Road, and also
            Komanisi, as a Grade 6 boy, was   inspire a dream to complete his PhD   “I developed
            first introduced to TANKS – a     in Computer Sciences one day.     computational
            programming app that doesn’t need    “I developed computational
            a computer – he didn’t even know   thinking skills, actually understanding   thinking
            how to switch on a PC.            how the brain of a computer works.”
               “I thought a computer was the     Culumanco is one of nearly     skills, actually
            smartest thing on this planet, but I   60 000 pupils across South Africa,
            was wrong,” said Culumanco, now in   mostly from under-resourced    understanding
            Grade 11.                         schools, who have been introduced   how the brain of a
               “With TANKS, I found out that   to the world of coding through
            computers are actually the dumbest   TANKS and two similar coding-  computer works”
            things on this planet; they just follow   without-computer apps called
            human instructions. It is we humans   RANGERS and BOATS.
            who are smarter, not computers.”     But it is the dream of Prof
               Culumanco instantly became     Jean Greyling – the Nelson
            hooked on programming – a passion   Mandela University computing
            that would lead to his getting a   sciences professor responsible for


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