By Ralph Sesay
Orange Sierra Leone and its partners have yesterday concluded the roll-out of the Super Coder Scratch project to ten schools in the west and south of the country.
The first phase of the roll-out started at the Annie Walsh Memorial Secondary School Freetown on the 10th February, 2020, and progressed through to the Albert Academy, Harford School for Girls, Moyamba, Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School, Kenema, Kolenten Secondary School, Kambia, Bo Government Secondary School, CKC, Methodist and Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary Schools in Freetown.
Ahmadiyya Regional Imam officially the Super Coder Project at the school
Orange and ST Foundation teams yesterday appeared at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School, Kissy Dockyard in Freetown to roll out the project to the tenth and last school.
Principal of the junior category of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School, Alhaji Karim Sesay, extended a hearty welcome to the teams on behalf of the Board of Governors, pupils, staff and the Ahmadiyya Mission in Sierra Leone.
He applauded both ST Foundation and Orange Sierra Leone for taking the path to develop the IT knowledge of school going children in Sierra Leone.
The Principal continued that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School would want to be in tune with the technological trend or direction the world is taking, especially so with the introduction of the Free Quality Education flagship project.
Country Director of ST Foundation, who is also a past pupil of the school, underscored the discipline and academic prowess of the school, and urged the pupils to maintain and sustain the good name of the school.
He told the staff and pupils of the school that they are partnering with Orange Sierra Leone with a view to further enhance the ICT skills and knowledge of the pupils for the 21st century job market.
Mr. Dumbuya highlighted the immense contributions of ST Foundation since 2009, and recounted that they have been able to establish thirty one (31) laboratories and trained over one hundred and forty five (145) thousand school going children and teachers in basic computer informatics.
He disclosed that the intention of his organization, which is supported by ST Foundation in Switzerland to establish more twenty laboratories with the aim of meeting the target of one hundred labs as dictated by the Orange Sierra Leone super code project in the next five years.
Jariatu Ibrahim, a representative of the Regional Business Manager, west, read a statement from the Chief Executive Officer, Aminata Kane, underscoring the essence for the I.5 million dollar material supports to the government’s Free Quality Education and what the pupils stand to benefit in the next five years.
The CEO’s statement also disclosed the various interventions of Orange Sierra Leone over the years, leading to the investment of over four hundred United States dollars (USD400,000) and other efforts at network expansion and change of critical equipment with a view to building more sites in remote areas.
Rebecca Sogbeh, CSR Officer, also made a detailed and comprehensive Powerpoint presentation on the five FQE Projects and also urged the pupils and teachers to make the best use of the computer labs and the training provided for them to tell their stories and those of their communities.
Mauli Muhammah Nabem Azhar, Regional Missionary Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission Sierra Leone, officially launched the Super Coder Project at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School, Kissy Dockyard, thereby bringing the first phase of the roll out to an end.
The second phase, which will start in May, 2020, will attract another fifteen schools, bringing the total to twenty five (25) for the year.
The project is among the five projects that will be rolled out to one hundred schools in the entire country, which are already with ST Foundation established laboratories across the country.