Huawei, Makerere University to offer ICT certification courses to students
Huawei Managing Director Mr Liujiawei (L) and Makerere University College of Computing Principal Prof. Tonny Oyana (R) sign the MOU to establish the Huawei ICT Academy at Makerere University as ICT Minister Hon. Frank Tumwebaze looks on.
The Minister for ICT and National Guidance Hon. Frank Tumwebaze has asked students studying Computing and Information Technologies in Uganda to focus more on innovation while emphasizing skills that will help them to earn a living.
The Minister, who was launching the Huawei ICT Academy Course 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 courses.
“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 (MOU) with Makerere University to host the Huawei ICT Academy Course where over 1000 students will receive training, and certification by Huawei.
“The Huawei ICT Academy course combines both theories and practical operations since some students hardly have project experience. These range from Enterprise Networks such as Routing and Switching, Advanced Network and Network technology, information technology such as Storage, Cloud computing and big data among others,” Mr. Liu Jiawei, the Huawei Uganda Managing Director said.
The ICT academy will immediately enroll students in June this year after certifying the lecturers who will teach them. The lecturers are already undergoing training and will soon complete their certificates with Huawei.
Speaking at the ceremony, the ICT Minister, commended Huawei for their consistency in skilling and talent nurturing because it is in line with the digital strategy of transforming Uganda into a middle income country.
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.
“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.
Makerere University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe asked the College of Computing at the University to take full advantage of the enormous capacity at Huawei.
