As part of its corporate social responsibility, the management of Huawei Technologies in partnership with the Special Intervention Program on Communal and Societal Development (SIPCOD), a Non-profit organisation has upgraded and equipped an e-learning center with 58 state-of-the-art computers among others at the Sardauna Memorial College, Kaduna.
The gesture was to support the students with the required ICT skills to compete favourably in the global world after their secondary education.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman, SIDCOM, Engineer Murphy Dogun said the renovation process included plastering of existing walls, changing the ceiling, changing all doors and windows, painting, providing Air-conditioners and fans, and providing a new power infrastructure to enable the school connect to the relevant power source.
“This upgraded facility was to house two identical classrooms and a technical/server room containing a total number of 58 high end All in One personal computers for the students, two projectors, two printers, and two state of the art Huawei PC’s all placed on a Local Area Network delivering high speed internet connectivity, of which data provision has been made for one year only.”
“I would like to express our profound gratitude to Huawei Technologies Co. Nig. Ltd. for their immense contributions towards this project. Working with their team has been a most pleasant experience and we thank God that our paths crossed. We look forward to more opportunities to bring love and development to our country and our world.”
He hoped that the centre will provide access to the vast array of educational material available on the internet to the host community in a bid to enhance the quality of education and create opportunities for greatness to be unearthed.
Arc. Shamsuna Ahmed representing the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Haj. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, expressed delight at the donation.
“We have to really prepare our young people for tomorrow and we cannot do that without technology. I thank everyone who has been instrumental in bringing this project to life especially Huawei. This is indeed a great honor. Huawei’s willingness to support SIPCOD in making this donation to the school is commendable and a show of how corporate citizens give back to society.
While giving his opening remarks, Alhaji Habibu Idris Alhassan, Director Public school, Ministry of Education who represented the honorable commissioner for Education, Kaduna State, Hajiya Halima Lawal, said the centre donated by Huawei will go a long way in equipping present and future students of the school with basic digital literacy skills that will shape their application of ICT in the future.
The Deputy Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, Yang Yang said Huawei has been focused on connecting the youths with a digital future by equipping them with the relevant knowledge and skills they need to excel especially creating an enabling environment for students to thrive.
“We want to create an ecosystem where everyone can enjoy foreseeable long-term benefits and sustainable development. This is why we are glad to take the opportunity we received to establish an e-learning center. We also hope with the new learning facility, the students here will enjoy a better learning environment,” he said.
He encouraged the students of the school to keep working hard and remains determined saying, “Technology gives the quietest student a voice.”
The Principal of the school, Jumare Tukur said the e-learning center will go a long way in bridging the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) gap in the school so that students of the school can compete favourably with their peers.
He said though the school has 54 teachers to impart knowledge on the 1,022 students and enough classes, he urged the old students to do more in terms of providing burglary proof for the library to prevent it from being vandalized.
He however expressed optimism that, thanks to Huawei, the school is now better equipped to train its students on computers and provide them with the requisite skills as they go into the world which is now a global village.
He assured that the school will ensure proper and effective management of the equipment for the benefit of the students
