Africa-Press – Seychelles. Airtel hosts ‘open week’ for secondary students
Telecom firm Airtel is hosting an ‘open week’ for secondary school students to mark the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day (WTISD).
The ‘open week’, which was officially launched yesterday, is taking place at the Airtel House at Perseverance. During this week, students from both public and private schools will be able to have guided educational tours of the head office. The students will come in batches of 20 to 30 to visit the company’s facilities.
The WTISD, which is celebrated annually on May 17 since 1969, was founded to help raise awareness of Information Communications Technology (ICT) and issues related to Information Society.
Launching the ‘open week’ yesterday, the chief executive of Airtel, Amadou Dina, explained that Airtel has planned several activities for the occasion, among which the ‘CEO of the day’ event.
“We have chosen Anila Joseph from Anse Boileau secondary to be the CEO for one day. The motive behind this is to create a younger generation of leaders, to create the passion, excitement and make them hungry for leadership.” (see accompanying article below).
Every school will have the chance to send a candidate and the student will be able to feel what it is to be a CEO.
Another main objective of the ‘open week’ is to allow students to understand how telecom in operating and to create a passion for ICT within the younger generation.
“We have noticed that every time there is a vacancy for ICT in the sector, we find it difficult to get good quality workers. We want to create a passion for ICT among the younger generation which in turn will embrace the sector. Many now steal it-touch it-experience what we call tele cause,” stated Mr Dina.
He also mentioned that Airtel is trying to organise activities for the students of Praslin and La Digue schools and reassure them that they have not been forgotten.
The major issue facing the telecommunication sector is staff retention. “They want to change and every company tries to poach by offering better salary package and so on. For me this is not what we want! Based on statistics, we had several workers who have come back to Airtel. When we send our staff for training we never make them sign a bond as we know that what we create here, you will not get in another company. Many of the top talents are sent to Rwanda, India, Malawi and Kenya for further training for three to six months. This is the ecosystem we want to create in order to have a robust system within the company, where we can leave the legacy for our children.”
This year’s theme for the WTISD is ‘Digital technologies for older persons and healthy ageing’. In respect to this, Airtel has also created a special mobile package for its elderly customers aged 63 and above so that they can experience a digital journey like the younger generation.
Mr Dina concluded by stating that his role was to mentor and coach the youth and create the ecosystem for people to take over from the leaders.
“Airtel operates in 21 countries, if you are among the top talents, you are free to move from one country to another and explore your capabilities. That is what I am looking forward to!”
For More News And Analysis About Seychelles Follow Africa-Press
