To facilitate learning, boost standards: ICT University acquires worth 100 MFCFA pedagogic bus.

The state-of-the-art brand new automobile, shipped in from Europe, was publicly presented to staff and students of the American-styled university yesterday.

This was during a brief, yet, colourful ceremony staged on the campus of the ICT University in Nyom-Yaounde.

It was the Vice Chancellor of the ICT University, Prof Jean Emmanuel Pondi, who commissioned the bus in the presence of the personal representative of the Founder and President of the Board of Trustees of the institution, United States-based renowned University don, Prof Victor Mbarika.

The bus, which is a donation of Prof Terry and Linda Bryrd and the ICT University Foundation, USA, it was gathered, will boost learning by granting students access to lectures in real time while shuttling between their homes and campus.

While commissioning the bus, the ICT University Vice Chancellor, Prof Emmanuel Pondi, described the donation as a welcomed gift which he said will take the quality standards of the institution to a higher frequency.

“This is not a usual bus which you find everywhere. It is very comfortable. With this bus, our students will be in optimal technological conditions to continue their work,” the erudite Prof explained. 

He continued that: “This double decker bus will be at the disposal of our students who are at the centre of our activities”.

“We want our students to feel comfortable and to move from town to campus, in the most comfortable manner. This bus will also be used for excursions. With this bus, our students will be able to move around the country and why not outside the country,” he added.

“The idea is for our students and the ICT community to discover the world. We expect them to use this bus as a tool for pedagogic exercise and deepening of knowledge,” Prof Pondi concluded. 

Meanwhile, speaking as he represented the Founder and President of the Board of Trustees of the ICT University, Epie Ananfah Eponsime, revealed that the bus cost the university well over 100 million FCFA.

“This bus cost the University over a hundred million francs. It is placed at the disposal of students of the ICT University,” he disclosed, before stating that: “At the centre of the mindset of Prof Victor Mbarika, is comfort and quality”.

“We are in the 21^st century and many university setups believe that we are still in the colonial era where you put students under very uncomfortable conditions to study. That is not the mindset of the West. If you go to America, Europe and Asia, you will find what we have here at the ICT University,” he boasted.

Epie added that: “We prioritise comfort at the ICT University so that our students can study well. Prof Victor Mbarika, has invested over a hundred millions to acquire this double decker bus. This is a strong message to other universities. Other universities should understand that what is happening in Europe and America can also happen here in Cameroon. Students should leave Egypt, South Africa and come to the ICT University to experience the comfort that they can get elsewhere out of the continent”. 

Impact on learning & teaching

Taking the cue at yesterday’s ceremony, the Deputy Vice Chancellor in-charge of Academics at the ICT University, Dr Alain Vilard Ndi Isoh, described the newly commissioned bus as a moving classroom.

He said the facility is equipped with all necessary tools to permit students continue receiving lectures unperturbed while on transit.

“We are always at the lead of innovation at the ICT University. As I earlier mentioned, this bus is a moving classroom. It is a classroom on four wheels. The bus has been equipped with all learning facilities that will allow students have lectures in real time while on transit,” he explained to reporters.

“This is innovative because no university in Cameroon has thought about this concept which the owner and Founder of this university, Prof Mbarika, has put in place,” he added.

“Students of ICT University will now have access to lectures while they leave their homes for school. This means that even if you are late, you can’t miss your lectures; given that there is an online platform where all our lectures are being conducted,” he stated.

Gratitude to administration

Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of his mates, the president of the Student Union Government at the ICT University, Edimo Johnson, thanked management and administration of the school for prioritising the needs of students.

He said the bus will be of great use to the students of the establishment.

“We want to thank the administration of the ICT University for putting at our disposal this double decker bus,” he said with gratitude.

“Most importantly, we want to say that the university is taking into consideration our comfort and security because this will be useful to the students. We want to sincerely thank the university for this gesture,” he concluded.