Africa-Press – Angola. Hundreds of young people and teenagers, of both sexes, flock to the Uíge Technological Center every day to enroll in the different courses taught intensively at this technical-professional education institution, inaugurated on October 28, 2021, by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.The center includes three training platforms, the first of which is called “I know how to do it”, which brings together several courses with local certification, including IT, Analog and Digital Electronics, Renewable Energies, Camera Assembly for Video Surveillance, Graphic Design, Journalism and Satellite Communication.
The second is the “Cisco Academy” platform, with four courses with international certification, namely Information Technology (IT) and Networks, at levels CCNA1, CCNA2 and CCNA3. The third platform offers courses related to the administrative area, such as Human Resources Management, Customer Service, Protocol and Public Relations, Archive Management and Entrepreneurship.
Most courses are provided free of charge. In general, the duration varies from 15 to 35 days, with the exception of the Electronics course, which is completed over two months, as it includes two modules (Analog and Digital Electronics).
Gender
Sandra Sebastião João, 20, is among the hundreds of young people currently attending technical and professional courses at the center. The young woman is about to complete the Electronics course and is the only woman in her class of 30 students.
Sandra Sebastião João, a mid-level technician in Renewable Energies, from the “Namputo” Polytechnic Middle Institute, located in the municipality of Damba, said that, as a result of the trainers’ expertise in transmitting knowledge, she can now repair several electronic devices, such as decoders, radio receivers and telephones.
“The emergence of this technological center is an added value for the province of Uíge, as many young people have found an opportunity here to demonstrate their talent and inventive capacity, through the knowledge acquired in the field of new technologies”, said the graduate, who aims to be an engineer in the Renewable Energy sector.
Quality
Osvaldo dos Santos Almeida, 27, is another trainee at the center, who is specializing in Advanced Computing. He highlighted the quality of the training, particularly the courses offered by the institution, which has state-of-the-art equipment in the field of new technologies and highly competent trainers, many of whom are internationally certified.
“Considering that the world today is technological, I decided to enroll in the Advanced Computing course, an area that I have been extremely passionate about since I was little”, stressed the young man.
Qualifications
Also being trained at the Technological Centre is young Euclides Elias, aged 20, who is taking the Information Technology (IT) course and, in the company of his colleagues, is learning how to assemble and disassemble computers and other electronic devices, and after a month he will obtain an international certification, which will enable him to work anywhere in the world.
The Advanced Computing, Information Technology and Electronics courses, according to data released by the center’s management, are those that regularly receive the largest number of candidates, as they guarantee easy access to employment.
Academic institution makes numerous advances in the training component
The director of the Uíge Technological Center, Virgílio Cordeiro, said that since the inauguration of the space three years ago, the institution has made significant progress. “Today, in addition to the training component, we have also created an area for content production, a cyberspace and a laboratory,” he highlighted.
The laboratory, he explained, works as a software factory. “It is where we promote internships for students who come from various higher education institutions, and we also develop all types of applications, from website creation to databases and others”, he indicated, adding that the institution has been working on the design of several other technological projects, such as the creation of a platform called “Wana”, which allows the location of documents lost on public roads, and an application for virtual laboratory practices in the subjects of Physics and Chemistry.
“This laboratory software is currently being used in two secondary education institutions in the region, the Instituto Médio de Saúde and the Liceu do Uíge, benefiting approximately 300 students”, he said, in addition to informing that the technological center is run by a group of 19 employees, 11 of whom have international training.
“It is important to note that the centre benefited, a few months ago, from a scholarship awarded by the Angolan government to train trainers in matters related to advanced technologies. Now, the staff have been trained and many are contributing with the knowledge they have acquired”, he said, recalling, on the other hand, that, during the three years of the centre’s existence, they have managed to hold four technological innovation fairs, with the aim not only of discovering new talent, but also of bringing together lovers of new technologies to share knowledge and present a series of technological solutions.
Own business
The head of the Uíge technology centre also announced that over the course of three years, 2,700 young men and women were trained, 470 of whom were trained in international courses, in other words, in the area of the “Cisco Academy”. Many of the young people trained, he said, have now managed to open their own businesses and created employment opportunities for others.
“In the three years since the centre was established, the province of Uíge has come to be considered the second technological capital of the country, after Luanda, because we have been able to participate in all the technological events promoted by the Angolan government in Luanda and Lubango. For example, at Angotic, held in June of this year, we were elected the new province. At the Technological Innovation Fair of the Telecommunications Institute, held from the 12th to the 15th of last month, September, we were also named the new province. This year we also received a new province award”, he highlighted.
Virgílio Cordeiro lamented the low participation of young girls in the Technology courses offered, a fact that concerns the institution and, as a result, they are working in collaboration with the Provincial Education Office, holding lectures in schools, to encourage girls to enjoy information technologies more and, in this way, promote gender balance.
On the other hand, he added that, whether for training or internships, the center receives young people from various parts of the country, with particular emphasis on those from the provinces of Cuanza-Norte, Malanje, Luanda, Huambo and Bengo.
“We are currently working with the Government of Cuanza-Norte, which has been sending high school and higher education students to undertake internships at the technology center,” he said.
Bet on audiovisual results in the first cartoon film
The head of the center also added that they are also investing in the field of multimedia, with the recent development of a series of five chapters in cartoons, with the title “N’zila” (a Kikongo term meaning path), to portray domestic violence.
“The film portrays the story of a family that faces many difficulties and where a woman, despite being the victim of several attacks by her husband, is unable to report him to the authorities,” he explained, adding that the production of the series, which is due to premiere later this month, lasted a year, having only featured the participation of local actors.
According to the director, it is the first Angolan cartoon series with five chapters. At the moment, he highlighted, they are working with people in charge of some television channels so that the film can be shown to society in general.
“We will continue to work. Our biggest dream is to produce a three-dimensional (3D) film,” he said, recalling that the center is sponsored by the President of the Republic, who has been playing this role well.
“We have received all the necessary support and one example is the electronics laboratory, as well as the network and the content production center, created through sponsorship from the presidential couple, with the aim of ensuring that the center continues to offer quality training to local young people,” he said, in addition to explaining that the support has been material and financial.
Training
With the support of the presidential couple, he said, a group of trainers from the center will travel to Brazil in a few days, on an initiative of the President of the Republic, where they will receive technical and professional training.
Despite the support received, he continued, the center has faced some difficulties, related to the maintenance of equipment and the payment of employees’ salaries, due to the fact that it is not yet a budgeted unit.
However, he continued, the provincial government and the Ministry of Telecommunications are working to build technology centres in other municipalities in the province. At the moment, he said, construction work on the Negage centre is underway and is expected to start operating early next year.
According to Virgílio Cordeiro, one of the challenges he is proposing is to teach, in the province, the last level of the Networks specialty course, which only exists at the Luanda Telecommunications Institute (ITEL).
Machines under construction
The director of the Uíge Technological Center revealed that the construction of a corn purifying machine is in the works, which will also be used for the production of animal feed.
“We have already started to create the conditions for this purpose, we believe that within 30 or 40 days we will have the machine properly built and ready for testing”, he said, having highlighted that, with the creation of the equipment, they also intend to contribute to actions that contribute to increasing the supply of this cereal (corn), which is part of the basic food basket.
JORNALDEANGOLA
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
