A Tech Marathon is on its way to consolidating itself as the fifth largest student Olympics in Brazil. Sponsored by iFood, Brazilian technology company, this school competition seeks to awaken young people’s interest in the technology area.
In its 2023 edition, 914 thousand students signed up for the Tech Marathon, held in partnership with Cactus Association and the Tech Movement. They are young people from 2,750 public and private schools in 1,000 Brazilian municipalities.
In the first edition, in 2022, 84 thousand students from the ninth year of elementary school to high school participated in the competition.
“The Marathon gains scale and reach for schools that have not yet had as much contact with technology,” says Camila Oliveira, senior coordinator of basic education at iFood.
How does the Tech Marathon happen?
Competing in this Olympics does not require prior knowledge of technology. Furthermore, the proposed activities can be carried out even in schools that do not have technological resources.
The Tech Marathon takes place in two phases, held between August and September. The first of them is applied by teachers in the classroom, and students propose solutions to problems in their own communities using technology.
Students who move on to the second phase receive content and quizzes via WhatsApp chatbot. There are eight learning cycles focusing on logic and computational thinking.
“The Marathon operates from the perspective of a journey of learning and awakening”, defines Camila. “It will not teach students how to program, but it will tell them about this universe and, mainly, that there are careers and technology scholarships accessible to people with underrepresented and low-income profiles.”
She explains that young people can only dream and plan what to do in college when it is a career they have already heard about. “The Marathon is part of this strategy of enabling students’ life projects that involve technology.”
In this year's edition, Marathon Tech awards include medals, scholarships and technological immersions in big techs and excellent educational institutions, such as Insper.
Why does iFood invest in basic education?
As Brazilian company, iFood seeks to strengthen the national technology ecosystem not only by sharing its knowledge in the area, but also by encouraging more people to follow career in tech.
By supporting Marathon Tech, iFood gets closer to fulfilling its commitments in the area of education until 2025. Are they:
- Encourage basic education to impact 5 million people;
- Train and employ 25 thousand people from underrepresented and low-income groups in technology;
- Empowering more than 5 million people for the work of the future and entrepreneurship.
