WHAT IS UCODE IT ACADEMY AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR VASYL KHMELNYTSKY
Impact projects aimed at Ukraine’s economic and innovation growth are an important part of the work of the UFuture holding company and its founder Vasyl Khmelnytsky. Among his current and implemented social investment projects are the Kyiv International Economic Forum international platform, K.FUND foundation, School of Small and Medium Entrepreneurship, BIONIC University, Novopecherska School, publishing projects K.Fund Books, #bestread and many others.
History
At the end of 2016, on the initiative of Vasyl Khmelnytsky, an innovative programming school without teachers, lectures and notebooks UNIT Factory was created, Forbes Ukraine wrote in its editorial article.
"The CBL (Challenge Based Learning) approach was first proposed by Apple in 2008. The methodology is that the student acquires skills immediately on practical tasks. In 2011, Apple reported that 90% of teachers at schools and universities who used CBL in class confirmed “significant growth” in soft skills, i. e. leadership, creativity, problem solving, media literacy, critical thinking, initiative, etc.," the journalists wrote.
The model became very popular in the United States and abroad. In 2013, it was used by the French programming school 42.
UNIT Factory became a franchise of the school 42. UNIT Factory was free, but the student had to work in Ukraine for three years. Violation of the contract was punishable by a fine of about $ 2,500 (tuition cost). During his studies, the student worked on projects that were evaluated by his classmates and the automatic system.
Vasyl Khmelnytsky invested $5 million in the UNIT Factory.
"This was the first stone in the development of the UNIT.City innovation park, another Vasyl Khmelnytsky’s large-scale project. Education is an important part of the park's ecosystem," said Florin Bicher, CEO of UNIT Factory and ucode IT academy, a graduate of the French school 42.
The school was located in the first restored building of the Motorcycle Plant, a three-story building made of glass and metal. 180 Macs were installed in the computer room. UNIT Factory worked 24/7, so each student could learn the material at his or her own pace and rhythm, with their own peaks of productivity. The program of development of skills of interpersonal communication and work with people was organically built in the educational process. On average, depending on students’ individualities, training at UNIT Factory lasted from two to three years.
In 2020, due to the unfavorable economic situation, the school was closed. Vasyl Khmelnytsky, together with his partner Vitaliy Gorovoy, opened ucode IT academy.
ucode IT academy
Vasyl Khmelnytsky’s UFuture holding company and Vitaliy Gorovoy’s InSoft Partners launched the ucode IT academy programming school in April 2020.
Since its launch, 437 students have graduated from ucode. At the same time the school earned on projects and recruiting for partners, including Ubisoft, Ajax Systems, Cisco and others. Partner staff also mentored students.
In October 2021, Vitaliy Gorovoy’s InSoft Partners withdrew from the project, and its share was bought out by UFuture.
"For us, ucode has always been and remains an impact project. It gives talented Ukrainians access to world-class IT education here in Ukraine. This is an important part of the UNIT.City ecosystem, but in fact the project ‘feeds’ the IT sector as a whole. Our graduates work in many companies. Vitaliy Gorovoy, as a managing partner, has made an important contribution to the development of relevant training curricula. He has extensive experience in creating IT companies, he feels the market, the demand for specialists. But then Vitaliy decided to focus on business projects," Vasyl Khmelnytsky told.
Today, ucode is developing a free training model and recruiting new students. In the near future, 500 participants will have the opportunity to master the popular IT profession at the expense of UFuture and the innovation park UNIT.City. Capitalization of the project is a new opportunity for talents in Ukraine.
Read more about the UNIT Factory and ucode IT academy stories at the link.