Nine top students drawn from local universities are set to enjoy a two-week fellowship and training programme in advanced Information Technology systems at the Huawei Global Headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
The nine, who were flagged off Thursday morning for their academic tour of China, will undertake the training programme courtesy of Huawei Technologies Kenya and the ICT Authority as part of a bilateral skills transfer initiative.
Speaking during a joint flag off session at the ICT Authority offices, Huawei Technologies Kenya CEO Dean Yu said the programme dubbed the; Huawei Telecom Seeds for the Future is geared at preparing the students for top flight professional careers in Information Technology systems.
The nine students selected from the Technical University of Kenya, Kabarak University, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, University Of Nairobi, Strathmore University, Multimedia University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University, are currently studying information technology related courses at the respective institutions.
“Since the inception of this program in 2014, in partnership with ICT Authority, we have managed to take 64 students to China who have largely benefited from this one of a kind opportunity presented by our Seeds of Future program. The two weeks spent in China is an opportunity for these top students to study and gain work experience as well as enable them gain exposure to the Chinese culture and cross-cultural work experience in a globalised business environment,” said Huawei CEO Dean Yu.
The nine will leave for China for two weeks then do a two-month internship at Huawei in Kenya after their graduation set for 21st October.
“As the ICT Authority in Kenya, our core role is to rationalize and streamline the management of all ICT functions of the Government of Kenya, such a crucial mandate sees has seen us form strategic partnerships with like-minded organisations that will enable us, and the country deliver its functions that are mainly focused on promoting ICT literacy and capacity. This is why we are here today,” said acting ICT Authority CEO, Robert Mugo.
This partnership between Huawei and the ICT Authority involves four key programmes, a – an engineering students internship programme, broadband roll out forum to share best practices, infrastructure and devices for public sector and general ICT awareness and involvement in CSR activities - that cut across the technology industry geared to bolster the growth of the ICT in the country.
“Huawei is committed to see the development of the IT sector in the regions we operate in. With this deliberate engagement to support the Kenyan youth, who today form the majority of the Kenyan population, is a sustainable effort to ensure that the future of Kenya is in capable hands. This programme, which is expected to run for the next one year with hopes of having trained a total of 100 youth from the local Kenyan universities, is a step by Huawei to contribute to the technology industry,” continued Dean.
The National ICT master plan for 2014 – 2017 recommends a mechanism for developing and sustaining high end talent by removing the gaps between industry requirements and the capabilities of the local workforce.
This master plan goes to underscore the need to develop critical mass of high end ICT skills and to develop an ICT ready workforce to be able to meet the needs of the industry.