Sabina Bharwani

Computer science education is critical, but lacking

As society grows more reliant on technology, studies have found that two-thirds of parents think schools should require computer science as part of the curriculum. But only 40 percent of U.S. schools offer such classes. Even when available, these courses may not offer an appropriate syllabus or a high degree of rigor.

As a teacher whose students mostly lived below the poverty line, Sabina Bharwani saw the difficulty U.S. schools have in finding and retaining qualified computer science educators. She also observed the disadvantages Black and Latinx students experienced around technology. “I was supporting computer science initiatives nationally through Teach for America. I learned several things, and one of them was that it's difficult for schools to get and retain qualified computer science educators. We needed to build an accessible learning platform so that teachers don't need to know everything about computer science and can still teach at the highest level of rigor. I had a vision for what that would look like,” Sabina says.

To fulfill this vision, she created Hello World. The company’s name derives from a computer program used to demonstrate basic syntax, which outputs the words “hello world” and often is the first line of code created by beginning coders.

Saying hello to rigorous computer science education

Hello World provides a world-class computer science curriculum both in-person and online, partnering with schools such as Khan Lab School and the Ann Richards School for Young Women leaders as well as businesses such as Facebook and IBM. Since its founding in 2016, more than 15,000 students, ages eight to 18, have enrolled.

“We're not trying to train every student to become an engineer,” Sabina says. Instead, Hello World aims to engage students who might otherwise have been left out of a rigorous computer science education. The company has gotten interest from more than 20 schools and districts—some representing as many as a hundred thousand students—about adopting its platform.

Preparing underserved students for influential careers

In ten years, Sabina hopes Hello World will represent 20 or 30 percent of the market for online computer science education, primarily in low income schools.

“I think about our platform and our learning experiences around AI, data science, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mobile app development—these are some of the most influential careers anyone can contribute to in society,” Sabina says. “We expect to see more Black, Latinx, and female students and more people from low-income backgrounds advancing their careers in these roles.”

Sabina’s vision has the potential to profoundly influence how hundreds of thousands of students think about themselves and their careers, opening doors to opportunities they might never have considered.