VINCI Energies, through its Axians brand – dedicated to the challenge of digital transformation – renews its partnership with ENSICO – Association for Computing Education – thus bringing computing education to a greater number of children and young people, empowering them from an early age to resolve relevant and complex challenges.
This year, more than 4,500 students will benefit from ENSICO’s computing classes, and in some schools, the number already exceeds 300 young people.
This partnership aims to prepare future generations for a more digital world through fundamental skills in the development of computational thinking and the promotion of digital literacy. Some of the approximately 200 students from E.B.S Frei Gonçalo de Azevedo who benefited from the previous edition of this partnership considered that “computing is essential and complements everything” and that it brings “skills on how to think, to apply it to reasoning”.
Regarding the renewal of this partnership, Pedro Afonso, CEO of VINCI Energies in Portugal, states that “education is an essential right and access to new teaching models has a huge impact on society. By allowing young people to have access to computing education, we are promoting the skills of the future today. We are therefore – with concrete and immediate actions – aligned with the values and vision of this project, where digital literacy is critical for the future of almost all professions.” he concludes: “When the Academy is one of the main social levers, supporting this long-term cause seemed inevitable to us.”
ENSICO defends the teaching of Computing for all students in Basic and Secondary education and has been playing a fundamental role in disseminating the teaching of Computing to children and young people. Aiming to disseminate useful knowledge, it focuses on integrating computing with other knowledge and capitalizing on this knowledge in the development of students. The aim is, therefore, to teach how to think and work on reasoning, so that young people can face complex challenges in all aspects of their lives.
Luís Neves, president of ENSICO, says that “entry into the digital world must be done progressively and this progression is especially important when we are talking about students between 6 and 14 years old. ENSICO’s methodology at the 1st cycle level focuses on learning without the use of a computer (so-called unplugged) initiated through stories, with captivating characters and implicitly linked to computing subjects. At the 2nd and 3rd cycle levels, the teaching of computing is leveraged in the teaching of mathematics and languages. In these two cycles, the writing of data models, algorithms and programs is introduced using a programming language based on the functional paradigm, thus intensifying the number of semi-plugged and plugged activities, that is classes in which the use of the computer evolves progressively and sustainably. ENSICO’s experience shows that this pedagogical strategy has worked.”
ENSICO is a non-profit association and has been teaching Computing since 2020 through weekly classes taught throughout the academic year. There have now been 35 national schools covered in the last three years and more than four and a half thousand students involved.
About VINCI Energies
In a world in constant change, VINCI Energies contributes to the environmental transition, promoting the main transformation trends in digital and energy. VINCI Energies teams integrate customized systems, services and solutions, from consultancy, design, implementation, operation and maintenance. With their strong local roots and an agile and innovative structure, VINCI Energies brands and business units are positioned at the centre of their customer’s digital transformation and energy transition decisions, leveraging the reliability, efficiency and sustainability of their business. VINCI Energies promotes global performance, caring for the planet, serving people, committed to local communities.
In Portugal, VINCI Energies brings together the operations of the brands Actemium, Axians, Longo Plano, Omexom, Sotécnica and VINCI Facilities.
About Ensico
ENSICO is a non-profit association that is developing content, pilots, impact evaluators, training actions, academic and business partnerships, among many other initiatives, so that, within a 3-year time horizon, the teaching of Computing will become form part of compulsory education. This will allow all students in our schools, public or private, to learn the fundamental principles of Computer Science. Its mission is to ensure that this body of knowledge, taught over 12 years, is based on creativity, mother tongue, oral and written communication skills, mastery of mathematical language and knowledge of history.
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