ICT Ministry, Uganda Media Center applauds ISBAT University for championing coding education among schools

On Tuesday 21^st April 206, a team from the Inter Schools Coding Competition (ISCC), interfaced with the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of ICT and National Guidance Dr. Aminah Zawedde, flanked by Mr. Alan Kasujja, the Executive Director, Uganda Media Centre, at the National Innovation Hub, Nakawa.

The Inter-Schools Coding Competition (ISCC) stands as Uganda's largest and most impactful National Advanced Technology Initiative for secondary school students.

The ISCC bridges the gap between formal classroom ICT education and real-world digital skills by using a structured, Competition-Based Learning approach. This hands-on model ensures that students are not only learning theory but also applying their knowledge to practical challenges.

P.S Aminah while making her remarks in an interview made a special appreciation to ISBAT University as the main organizer and sponsor of the Inter-Schools Coding Competition for creating opportunities that connect skills to innovation, jobs, and real-world impact for our young people, an initiative she said aims to make coding education accessible to all secondary school students in Uganda.

“I had a productive engagement with the Inter-Schools Coding Competition (ISCC) team, alongside Mr. Allan Kasujja the Executive Director of Uganda Media Center. I commend organizers such as ISBAT University management for doing a great work in equipping young people with practical digital skills through hands-on learning and competition. With over 4,000 students from 120 schools already trained in Python, it’s exciting to see the impact growing, with plans to reach even more learners across the country. We must keep creating opportunities that connect skills to innovation, jobs, and real-world impact for our young people” she said.

Dr. Aminah  stated that digital transformation begins with equipping young people with skills in coding, analysis, and problem-solving, noting that these competencies are now as essential as learning English and Mathematics. She stressed that infrastructure, tools, and online services are key to national progress, adding that data protection and cybersecurity are necessary to ensure digital solutions have a real impact.

The ISCC initiative for 2026 was launch earlier this April 2026, at ISBAT University to provide young Ugandans with early exposure to advanced technological skills, the aligning closely with the nation's digital transformation agenda, inspiring a new generation of innovators and problem solvers.

Dr. Aminah and Mr. Alan Kasujja, Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre, meeting with the ISCC team marked a key milestone, reaffirming the government of Uganda’s commitment to empowering Uganda’s youth through digital skills.

So far, ISCC and its partners have trained over 4,000 students from 120 schools across Uganda in Python programming, a foundational skill for careers in data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and web development. These numbers reflect the growing excitement and ambition among Uganda’s youth.

Building on this, the ISCC leadership and sponsors aims to reach 500 secondary schools this year, significantly expanding the program’s impact and bringing advanced technological skills to even more students across the country.

Alan Kasujja noted that, “so we as the Media Centre are excited to support anything that has an impact on communities. Anything that seeks to show young people where the opportunities are. We are going to support those groups. That's why we are associating ourselves with a competition that showcases coding skills from across the country. We are giving them visibility.”

Isaac Prince Sekatawa the Project Team Leader of ISCC said , “Last year, we were able to reach 4,000 students. This year, we are reaching 500,000 students across the country.” This ambitious target stresses the initiative's scale and vision.

Daniel Mich Ogwal, a former Pine International School student, recounted his encounter with the Inter Schools Coding Competition, a unique and exciting opportunity he had only ever seen online. Forming a team with his peers, Daniel experienced the intensity of competition-based learning, regularly checking the leaderboard and finding his biggest rivals were teams from the Kigezi region. 

He said that despite these challenges, his team advanced through both regional and national rounds, ultimately securing third place at the grand event in Kololo. 

Last year’s winner  Standard High school Zana was handed the trophy by the ISBAT Unversity VC Mathew Kattamplackal  at a ceremony held at Kololo grounds. 

VC ISBAT University handing over the troppy to the winner of last years competition.