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GitHub Education is a free software development package for schools

The company wants to support coders of the future.

GitHub, the online, open-source code repository recently acquired by Microsoft, has already made big moves to support future software developers. In 2012 it launched the Student Developer Pack, in 2015 it built the GitHub Classroom for teachers, and earlier this year it opened up teacher training with its Campus Advisor program. Now, it's packaging all of these tools and features together under the umbrella "GitHub Education", which will available to schools completely free of charge.

The package includes developer packs, training, workflow, advisors and access to GitHub's student community, plus quick access to premium GitHub Education features, such as private repositories. The offering will be a boon to schools pushing IT courses, and to students hoping to pursue a career in software development, which traditionally requires programming tools that can be a little pricey. Schools can apply for early access now.