Egypt honors 10-year-old programmer Martiros Mina ranked among world’s top 2%
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Raafat Hendy honored 10-year-old Martiros Mina for winning awards and securing top rankings in local and international programming and robotics competitions. Martiros, a fourth-grade primary school pupil, won a gold medal in an international Python programming competition organized by China this year and ranked among the top two percent … The…
Egypt's Communications and Information Technology Minister Raafat Hendy honored 10-year-old programming prodigy Martiros Mina at a ceremony. Martiros, a fourth-grade primary school student, had won an international Python programming competition and ranked among the top two percent of participants worldwide. The minister emphasized the importance of nurturing young technological talent as a national asset and pledged to provide a supportive environment for children to develop their digital skills and compete on a global level.
Martiros shared his journey of becoming a programmer, starting at five years old when he designed and built his first robot. He began studying programming at age six and participated in local competitions from age seven. By age eight, he started competing internationally in countries like China, Estonia, and Romania, winning multiple awards and top rankings.
Martiros presented the minister with a robot tour guide in the likeness of King Tutankhamun, designed to introduce visitors to Egyptian antiquities at the Egyptian Museum.
Hendy placed Martiros in the Robotics and Embedded Systems track of the Digital Egypt Clubs initiative, despite him being below the program's minimum age requirement. The minister presented him with a laptop and several robotics kits to encourage his continued learning and development. Hendy highlighted the government's efforts to develop children's technological skills through initiatives like the Digital Egypt Buds and Digital Egypt Cubs programs, which tailor training to different age groups.
The ceremony was attended by Hoda Baraka, adviser to the communications minister for technological skills development, and Martiros's parents. Notably, Martiros is being admitted to the Digital Egypt Cubs program, which typically accepts students aged 12-17, several years before the standard entry point. The Cubs initiative offers advanced tracks in robotics, artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, and digital arts and was launched in 2022/2023 with a $25 million budget and partnerships with major technology companies.
Since its inception, the ministry claims it has trained approximately 240,000 pupils nationwide through these initiatives.
Written by urgent.news from Egypt Independent's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
