By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The telecommunication giant Orange SL has launched three educational projects as part of efforts to fulfill a pledge made towards the government’s Free Quality Education (FQE) program.
The projects include the introduction of coding in schools, supply of free hygiene pads to female pupils and sponsorship of inter-secondary school coding competition.
Thee operator said these projects will be funded from a US$1.5 million it set aside to support the FQE, as promised last September during the launch of the government’s flagship program.
Orange officials said the money will be invested in a total of five different projects over the course of the next five years. The added that the projects were designed in consultation with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education and other partners.
Amanita Kane, CEO of Orange SL, said during a ceremony launching the projects on Friday that the coding aspect, dubbed the ‘Super Coding’ project, is important to expose children to technology at a younger age.
The coding lessons will be rolled out in 100 schools across the country, she said, noting that these coding lessons will give the students an opportunity to learn gaming codes and creating applications.
“Education is about learning, writing, [and] reading. But in tomorrow’s world and even today’s world, it’s also about coding. [Coding] is a skill that is not superficial. It’s a skill that is necessary and that every kid will need to have,” said Ms Kane.
The Super Coding project entails the training of teachers who will then be deployed in schools to teach the children.
The ST Foundation is one of the organizations that will be leading the pilot phase. Its representative, Mohamed Dumbuya, explained that the Super Coding project will be an introductory ICT training program for pupils aged 12-18 years.
“Such a computer programming language can enable pupils to make their own interactive stories, animation, games, music and arts,” he said.
“We hope it will be part of ICT curriculum in schools nationwide in near future,” he added.
The second project will see Orange organize inter school competition on coding. The winning school will get a fully furnished computer laboratory. This means that at the end of the five year period, Orange will have erected a total of five computer labs in five schools across the country.
The third project involves the distribution of 10, 000 hygiene pads for girls in schools across the country.
Many girls drop out of school due to lack of access to sanitary pads. Yet one of the key objectives of the FQE is to bridge the gender gap in access to education. Ms Kane said this project is meant to prevent that from happening.
Orange said the other two projects: Solar kits for school children and open classroom will be rolled out in 2020.
The Free Quality Education, the flagship program of the Bio Administration, envisages that every child has the opportunity to get basic education. Under the scheme, pupils are provided tuition fees, books and free meals, among others. Orange said their support in the form of these projects is part of their corporate social responsibility to the country.
Orange is one of the leading telecoms service providers worldwide. The French multinational telecommunications corporation entered the Sierra Leone market in 2017 when it acquired the license of Airtel SL, a subsidiary of the Indian owned Bharti Airtel Limited.
Computer literacy is a serious challenge across the education sector in Sierra Leone. This is mainly associated with the cost of setting up computer laboratories and the expertise to pass on the knowledge to children, in addition to the inability of parents to provide computer for their children.
Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, said government recognized ICT as a major development tool as it is in line with its human capital development plan.
“We have our investment in human capital through digital skills and knowledge as the normal three pillars [and] we are deliberate about it because ICT and digital education is the way of the world,” Minister Swaray said.
He added that government was willing to partner with the private sector to promote education and ICT in the country.
Alpha Osman Timbo, Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, while praising Orange for “leading the way” in fulfilling a promise it made at the launch of the FQE, said this has been a work in progress.
Orange, he noted, was first telecoms company to pledge support t the scheme.
Minister Timbo promised that in the future they, as a government, were planning to overhaul the school curriculum to fit in with technology.
“We have already developed an educational track to ensure the effectiveness of our educational system. We have established an EMIS department in the ministry, that is, Education Management Information system, as we identified people who are capable of transforming a vision into reality,” he said.
“The Super Coding project is something that attracted the attention of everyone in my ministry,” he added.
© 2019 Politico Online
