The Centre for Academic Achievement in Dublin is among 26 organisations receiving more than US$340,000 in funding from Google for engaging students in computer science and science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.
The annual Google Roots in Science and Engineering (RISE) programme supports organisations running innovative STEM and computer science enrichment programmes for school children and university students worldwide.
The Centre for Academic Achievement runs free, after-school classes for primary school students from disadvantaged areas. Each term, students from 32 Dublin primary schools can study science, math and engineering subjects and are encouraged to pursue college degrees.
This year, the Google in Education group received a record number of applications for RISE, wrote Roxana Shirkhoda, of Google’s K-12 Education Outreach on Google’s blog.
Google expanded the awards to include Sub-Saharan Africa, and in total, the internet search giant is awarding funding to 13 US, eight European and five African organisations.
“Our recipients are diverse, ranging from girls robotics teams building high-tech machinery in Nairobi to after-school programmes that have students configuring cluster computers in Salt Lake City,” Shirkhoda wrote.
Organisations interested in applying for 2013 funding can sign up for more information online.
