French group supports first free coding school in Bucharest

The Romanian IT division of Societe Generale European Business Services (SG EBS), the shared service center of the Societe Generale Group, will provide mentorship to a group of school students attending the Academy+Plus coding school in Bucharest. The tuition free coding school first opened in Cluj-Napoca, in western Romania, in 2014. The capital Bucharest followed in 2017. Here, the school runs in a partnership with the famous Ecole 42, a vocational education program established by the French businessman Xavier Niel. The school aims to teach computer programming for free and distribute equal opportunities for high school students, university students and professionals. The education imparted at the school is based on practical challenges, encouraging peer-learning, and peer-to-peer review. Overall, the school aims to “to become an important player in the IT industry ecosystem in Romania by stimulating people to learn computer programming and contributing to the increase of IT workforce in our country.” Over 4,500 candidates went through the selection process for the 120 places available at the school in Bucharest. “Coding school, tuition free and financed by companies is a brand-new model in Romania. However, in spite of this, Societe Generale European Business Services has proven to be an early adopter and an open partner by firmly joining our efforts. Their support contributed to our decision of opening Academy+Plus in Bucharest this year,” Daniela Buscan, program director of Academy+Plus Bucharest, said. “We are aware that the only way to grow as a company, and also as an industry is to invest in people. Therefore, this year, in the context of our plans to develop, the partnership with Academy+Plus is an extra step towards achieving this goal. Also, by welcoming people that come from various backgrounds we will be able to create diversity in our teams. […] Also, the fact that our employees are interested in mentoring people at the beginning of their studies towards a career in IT is a sign of maturity in our team and I always welcome such initiatives,” said Olivier Hecq, head of the IT Service Center of the Societe Generale European Business Services. With over 1,000 employees in Romania, SG EBS provides professional services in areas such as Finance, Human Resources, Know Your Customers (KYC) and IT for the whole Societe Generale Group. A total of 30% of these services are represented by the IT division. The company plan aims to increase the share of IT services in the near future. Most IT specialists working abroad consider returning to Romania editor@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Academy+ Plus Facebook Page)