Ask PG: An incubator to teach programming to street kids in Turkey
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4338537I have in mind an incubator similar to Y Combinator but instead of taking applications from entrepreneurs we will teach programming and internet technology to street kids and give them money and advice to start their own company.
These kids live in the street and survive by selling paper napkins, bottle water etc. There are many non-profits that help these kids, but they teach them music, sports, art or send them to school. No one is teaching them how to start a business by teaching them a skill.
I am planning to teach Google App Engine with Python and separately also Arduino.
I am inspired by Paul Graham's essays advocating less schooling and more doing.
I strongly believe that school is evil. I believe that professional classes and schools inhibit general human progress by hiding knowledge and glamorizing book learning. In Turkey there is a general belief that without a university education a child cannot be successful in life. But some of world's most successful companies are founded by people with no formal education. I want to prove that a system based on learning by doing starting from earliest possible age is the right way to prepare a child to a happy and productive life.
I am asking for your advice in any aspect of this project. Thank you.