The three-year initiative will aim to impart new technological skills to the youth in Gabon and is reportedly the first of its kind that UNESCO has partnered with a private organisation in sub-Saharan Africa. It plans to offer scientific and entrepreneurial training to 5,000 people (aged 18- 35 years) as well as high-school teachers in Gabon - through information and communication technology (ICT).
Initially, cyber centres equipped with laptops and servers will be created in schools in Libreville, Port Gentil, Oyem, Franceville, Bitam and Lambaréné.
The 5,000 young people targeted in the programme will receive basic training in ICT during the first phase of the project, which will also provide online training to 100 science teachers in secondary schools. Teachers will use their skills to provide online assistance to 15,000 high school students preparing them for their final year examination.
Small groups of students will learn how to develop mobile applications, manage cyber cafés and implement cooperative service centres throughout the project Train My Generation: Gabon 5000.
"In promoting technology-based innovation and knowledge through programmes, this investment is expected to enhance the Digital Gabon Plan - which aims at countrywide digital infrastructure by 2016 - and reinforce the government's development agenda of a wide range of e-services, potentially unlocking of SMEs growth," says Hervé Olivier Njapoum, CEO of Airtel Gabon.
