We are four weeks into Junior Tech Bootcamp 3.0, and the program is running exactly the way it was designed to.
Over 20 students are enrolled across two tracks. Beginners and Advanced, and both groups have completed their full curriculum for weeks one through four. Every topic on the schedule has been delivered on time, across both levels. That consistency matters to us. These students showed up every week. The least we can do is show up prepared every time.
Where We Started
Day one set the tone early. We covered
the fundamentals, what a computer actually is, input and output devices, hardware versus software. Rather than working from slides alone, students handled real computer components. They held a CPU. They saw a motherboard up close. Small things on paper, but watching a student go quiet for a second while holding a piece of hardware for the first time tells you something clicked that no slide could have delivered.
We also went around the room that first day and asked every student what they want to become. Doctor. Engineer. Footballer. And then one student said fashion designer.
We did not correct her. That answer is exactly why this program exists.
Computer skills are not only for people who want to code or become software engineers. Your future doctor is accessing patient records on a computer. Your fashion designer is using design software to pitch clients. Your footballer’s agent is running contracts through a spreadsheet. Whatever a child wants to do with their life, there is a computer sitting somewhere in the middle of it. The earlier they understand that, the better positioned they are.
The Design Sessions
One decision that defined the Beginner track was choosing PowerPoint as the design tool instead of Photoshop. The reasoning was straightforward. Throw a professional design tool at a beginner and the learning curve takes over the entire session before any actual design happens. PowerPoint is accessible, familiar enough not to intimidate, and capable enough to teach real design thinking.
The students already knew the software from earlier sessions. So when we moved into design principles — contrast, alignment, balance, hierarchy — they could focus on the concepts instead of fighting the interface.
Then came the project. We showed them a restaurant flyer designed in PowerPoint and told them to replicate it. The flyer had food on it. Eru, khati khati, fufu. The energy in the room shifted immediately. Whether it was a design class or a lunch discussion at that point was genuinely hard to tell. Either way, every student was locked in.
What came out of that session was hard to believe. Beginners, first real design task, producing flyers that looked professional. Day two we switched the brief entirely — a tech flyer this time, clean layout, no food to generate excitement, just information and structure. They delivered that one too.
The lesson from those two days was clear. A designer who understands design can create in any software. The tool is not the secret. Once the principles are understood, everything becomes a design application. That is what we wanted them to leave with, and they did.
The Detail That Stayed With Us
At the end of one of the sessions, we had already run 30 minutes past the scheduled closing time. One of the students looked up and said, “Sir, why is it so short?”
She was not joking. She argued for the session to continue, and she was making a reasonable case. That moment told us everything we needed to know about how week one landed.
Four weeks later, that energy has held.
Where We Are Now
Both the Beginner and Advanced tracks have covered their full four-week curriculum. Students have moved from understanding what a computer is to building real design projects with tools they can use anywhere, on any device with access to Canva or PowerPoint.
We still have time left in this cohort. If you have a child from Class 4 to Upper Sixth who is not yet enrolled, there is still space. Reach out through the contact page and we will get them placed in the right track before the session closes.
Yoli Technologies Junior Tech Bootcamp 3.0 is an ongoing six-week program running in Buea. Follow our updates here or contact us directly to learn more about enrollment and upcoming cohorts.
