MTN South Sudan helped set up a newly built computer lab at one of the oldest public school in South Sudan. Juba One Primary School in Juba becomes the first public school to acquire a computer lab with connectivity in the country since indendepence taking a peek at a new technology they can hardly comprehend.
MTN South Sudan helped set up a newly built computer lab at one of the oldest public school in South Sudan. Juba One Primary School in Juba becomes the first public school to acquire a computer lab with connectivity in the country since indendepence taking a peek at a new technology they can hardly comprehend.
Speaking during the lauching ceremony, Engineer Stephen Lugga Juma, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Telecommunication urged pupils to enjoy the use of the computer lab. "We want engineers out of you; we want doctors out of you," Eng. Juma tells the pupils.
The internet-connected lab, at Juba One Primary Schoo is part of efforts by Africa's largest mobile phone operator, MTN, to impact education in commitment to propel South Sudan towards achieving a key Millennium Development Goal. South Sudan leads with alarming statistics of lowest school enrolment rates in the world with less than 10 percent of enrolled pupils hardly complete primary school.
"Our focus at MTN Group is around education in areas of interest that caters for diversities in the markets that we operate in," Mr. Khumbulani Dhlomo, Head of Corporate Services, MTN South Sudan, says, adding that the venture grew out of MTN South Sudan CEO Mr. Philip Besiimire's passion for development. "He always asks, 'What legacy do we want to leave in South Sudan when we go back to our motherlands – we can't just put up a network and do nothing for the community?" he emphasised.
The goal of the lab project is to capture talent at its freshest and earliest development stage and ensures that children appreciate and develop passion for Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in early stage of education.
"We hope that today, we have planted a tree of knowledge that will grow into a giant that takes South Sudan up into the knowledge skies and make it compete with the best of the best globally," Khumbulani adds.
According to UNESCO, about 59.9 % of primary school teachers in South Sudan are untrained. Juba One Primary School with 886 enrolled has no computer savvy teacher. However, MTN has included training as part of the computer lab package. The school has no electricity, but MTN pledged to provide a diesel generator.
"We are happy to become the first public primary school to get a computer lab," Headmistress Batul Sediq German says, hastening to add: "This is not just for the pupils; the teachers must also acquire computer skills."
By JULICE PERPETUAL
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