Business

Education startup academy to scale up

Pictured at the mTech.Academy Smart Cities Challenge – Student Showcase are: Regent House pupil, Ethan Barratt; co-founder of mTech.Academy, Michael O'Hara; St Ciaran's College pupil Ellen McGirr; and Diane Morrow, co-founder of mTech.Academy.
Pictured at the mTech.Academy Smart Cities Challenge – Student Showcase are: Regent House pupil, Ethan Barratt; co-founder of mTech.Academy, Michael O'Hara; St Ciaran's College pupil Ellen McGirr; and Diane Morrow, co-founder of mTech.Academ Pictured at the mTech.Academy Smart Cities Challenge – Student Showcase are: Regent House pupil, Ethan Barratt; co-founder of mTech.Academy, Michael O'Hara; St Ciaran's College pupil Ellen McGirr; and Diane Morrow, co-founder of mTech.Academy.

BELFAST-based education startup mTech.Academy has announced plans to at least double the number of schools it will work with in the coming academic year.

The academy, which has now been running for a year, was designed to help students build the real-world skills that will improve their employability and thrive in the digital world, while also mentoring educators on the new opportunities available to students.

Over the last year it has worked with 300 Year 10 students and 70 head teachers, middle leaders and careers leaders from 10 schools across the country.

Looking ahead and co-founder Diane Morrow said they hope to expand to at least 20 schools, reaching about 600 students in the second year of the programme.

“We have been delighted with the response to mTech.Academy in terms of the number of students now actively considering careers in science, technology, engineering, arts/design and maths and business – and the number of parents now encouraging their young person in that pursuit. There is a real need for us to bridge the gap between the skills young people are learning in schools and the skills employers require now and into the future. We’re excited to be expanding the programme and helping even more Northern Ireland students and educators prepare for the digital future.”

The mTech.Academy is supported by leading Northern Ireland businesses including; PwC, Grant Thornton, BT, Dawson Andrews, Instil, Novosco and Smiley Monroe.