Youngsters of Santarém (PA) are participating in training classes on digital culture and free software with the use of TIM Tec courses. The Jovens Cordeirxs Program involves youths from 14 to 26 years old with the goal of cultivating a collective and collaborative intelligence that leads to the constitution of a technological hub for software development in the municipality. The initiative was created in 2012 by Coletivo Puraqué, a group of free software activists and academics that act for more than ten years in the suburbs of cities of Pará, especially in Santarém.
Jader Gama, one of the founders of the group, says that the intention is that this hub will be able to generate employment and income for the youth of the suburb districts. “We want to educate a generation capable of impact the economic, political and social courses of this municipality”, he affirms. The group is using TIM Tec courses in the new training classes of the program, which began this month with the course Introduction to websites creation, of Leonardo Germani. “Our goal is that already in the first month of activities these youngsters can provide services of developing and customizing websites, making it possible to obtain financial resources”, explains Gama.
Coletivo Puraqué is establishing which will be the next course of TIM Tec platform that will be part of the training classes learning tracks. “I think this is a bold and daring initiative, the courses are very interesting and certainly are giving a greater stimulus to the accomplishment of our dream”, says Gama. The young participants of the training classes also enjoyed the platform and the first course taken. “They found very valid to receive certificates through the platform itself, so they began to spread to other groups that are organized around ICTs in Lower Amazon region.
The training classes include youngsters who already act in activities related to information and communication technologies, such as computer networking, web development and computer maintenance, and others who have no experience in the area and, in most cases, attend the high school. Since 2012, about 230 youths participated in Jovens Cordeirxs Program.
