Introduction

Over the last three years a number of code schools for refugees have been started across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Every school has a different approach and strategy, yet each shares a common mission to educate and prepare disenfranchised people for employment in their new communities. Another unifying factor is the hacker mentality that open access to information and collaboration leads to faster innovation and social progress. It’s this simple idea that led us to create [resource name].

Written by founders, volunteers, and instructors from schools across the world, this resource aims to help you avoid some of the mistakes we made and serve your students better. We’ve included tips, templates, curriculum, benchmarks, and stories from our journey. It’s by no means everything you’ll need to be successful, but we think it will be a useful guide.

That being said, our goal is not to dictate how you start a school. One of our core beliefs is that each school should adapt to its environment and the students it serves. A school in The Netherlands will likely have very different students than a school in Greece or Iraq. Previous education levels, developer job markets, and many other factors will vary from place to place and so should the approach a school takes. Still, there are some things every school will need to do in order to begin operating. Our goal was to focus on that in this resource.

Without further ado, here is everything we know to date about starting a code school for refugees.