Uganda’s Minister for ICT and National Guidance Frank Tumwebaze has asked students studying ICT in Uganda to focus more on innovation while emphasizing skills that will help them to earn.
The Minister, who was launching the first ICT Academy in Uganda as well as flagging off the 2019 Seeds for the Future students who will leave for China in June, added that students who do innovations that don’t help them to earn or cure a problem in the society must not waste time on such innovations.
“Create jobs in the ICT sector through innovation. Focus more on innovation and innovate solutions that can solve market problems, earn you money as well as those that are able to win regional and international markets,” said Tumwebaze.
Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, on top of partnering with the government of Uganda to improve the skills of ICT students through the Seeds for the Future programme, has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Makerere University to host the first ICT Academy where over 1000 students will receive Huawei ICT technologies training, get Huawei certification, and develop talents with practical skills for the ICT industry.
The Seeds for the Future program started globally in 2008 by Huawei to nurture professionals who are urgently needed to drive the development of the ICT industry in countries where it operates.
In Uganda, the program started in 2017 and the first batch of 10 students was flagged off by Uganda’s Minister for Higher Education Dr JC Muyingo.
Lui Jiawei the Huawei Uganda Managing Director pledged Huawei’s continued support to skills development in Uganda. He said, this year, they will train over 1000 ICT students free of charge in practical ICT skills in the next two years.
“In the Seeds for the Future programme, out of the 30 students that have so far benefitted since the programme commenced in 2017, 21 students are employed and the nine are still studying. This shows a great achievement on our side,” said Jiawei.
Out of the 10 students who have benefitted from this year’s Seeds for the Future Program, Five are from Makerere University, 2 from Muni University while Lira University, Gulu University and Kyambogo University have one each.
They will visit Beijing and Shenzhen and will have the opportunity to study and gain work experience at Huawei’s headquarters and also be exposed to Chinese culture and cross-cultural work experience in a global business environment.
Makerere University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe asked the College of Computing at Makerere University to take full advantage of the enormous capacity at Huawei.
BY PAUL TENTENA
