By Ralph Sesay in Bo
Orange Sierra Leone yesterday commissioned the super coder scratch project at the Christ the King College Bo, southern region, as part of its US$1.5 million material support to President Bio’s Free Quality Education flagship project.
The project is among five projects designed jointly by Orange Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education.
It will eventually train pupils between the ages of 14 to 19 in one hundred schools across the country, starting with twenty-five every year and will enhance the competency of the pupils in basic super coding skills to be able to use animations to tell their stories or communicate effectively.
Christ the King College in the south is among ten schools in the country that will benefit from the first phase of the project.
Earlier on the Principal Christ the King College Junior Secondary School, Mrs. Michael Michael, welcomed the delegation from Orange Sierra Leone and other dignitaries present at the launching ceremony at the school grounds on Monday 2nd March, 2020.
She lauded Orange Sierra Leone for the gesture and her deepest appreciation that Christ the King College was selected to benefit from the Super Coder Scratch project, especially in the first year of implementation.
The Country Director of ST Foundation, Mohamed Mustapha Dumbuya, recounted that ST Foundation was established in 2009 and since then they had been able to provide computer laboratories and training for hundreds of Sierra Leoneans in basic computer informatics.
He urged pupils at Christ the King College to embrace innovation and technology as a tool for economic and social advancement in the 21st century.
Mr Dumbuya gave a background to their partnership with Orange Sierra Leone which, according to him, was established through UNICEF.
ST Foundation with support from ST Electronics from Switzerland has provided over twenty computer laboratories and trainings for various schools. The Labs, which are provided with solar panels, are worth over sixteen thousand United States dollars (USD 16,000).
Orange Sierra Leone is leveraging on the platform of ST Foundation to roll out the super code scratch project to schools with laboratory facilities in the next five years.
Acting Regional Business Manager at Orange Sierra Leone South, Augustus Bendu, told the gathering that Orange Sierra Leone was a multi service provider that was hugely committed to not only doing business in Sierra Leone but also cared about investing and supporting the aspirations of the government and people of Sierra Leone.
He refreshed the minds of the authorities present at the ceremony that Orange Sierra Leone was the first GSM Company in Sierra Leone to commit to Christ the King College US$1.5 million dollar material support to the President Bio’s Free Quality Education during its launching in August 2018.
The Acting Regional Business Manager took the meeting through the five projects designed by Orange Sierra Leone in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education and urged authorities and pupils of the Christ the King College to make use of the opportunities provided for them by the company.
The Assistant Inspector General South, K .S. Kamara, emphasized that technology was critical to the socio-economic development of the country and hence the pupils should grab the opportunity to make themselves computer literate and useful in the job market.
He underscored the point that the pupils and school authorities were responsible for the security of the equipment so that the next generations would be able to use these facilities.
AIG Kamara called on the pupils and the school authorities to give vital information to the police whenever the security of the equipment was threatened.
Rebecca Sogbeh, the CSR Officer Orange Sierra Leone, took the meeting through a detailed and comprehensive history of the five projects that would sponsor by Orange Sierra Leone and noted that this was a way the company was giving back to the society and their subscribers.
She also disclosed that in order to enhance these projects and ensure that the beneficiaries were able to utilize the various facilities as enshrined in the five projects, Orange Sierra Leone had invested over twelve million dollars in network expansion and development across the country.
The Deputy Mayor of the Bo City Council, David J.N.Smart who officially launched the project on behalf of the Mayor Bo City and the Government of Sierra Leone, noted that the contributions of Orange Sierra Leone were in tandem with the aspirations of President Bio.
The President, he added, was working with partners and organisations to ensure that the quality aspect of the Free Education was realized.
The Super Coder Scratch Project has already been launched at the Albert Academy, the Annie Walsh Memorial Secondary School in Freetown, Harford Secondary School for Girls in Moyamba, Ahmadiyya Muslim and Methodist High Schools in Kenema, Kolenten Secondary School in Kambia.
In the next few days the first phase will end with another launching at the Bo Government and Methodist Secondary Schools and lastly at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School Kissy Dockyard Freetown respectively.
The second phase which will target fifteen (15) schools will commence in May, 2020.