To boost digital learning: Gov’t hands over data centre to University of Buea.

The centre was inaugurated and handed over to UB Tuesday November 26. 

Addressing stakeholders during the handing over ceremony, the Chief Information Officer at the Ministry of Higher Education, Prof Atsa Etoundi Roger, who represented the Minister Fame Ndongo, said the centre will ensure the University of Buea measures up to its contemporaries across the world.

The newly inaugurated centre has an IT infrastructure made up of service and network equipment that allows students to follow classes and share knowledge with their counterparts in other parts of Cameroon.

It also has a ‘Smart class’ section where lecturers can have classes with students. The ‘teacher’s live room’ provides teachers the ability to deliver classes without students and the same lectures are replicated in all the state universities and recorded for future use by students.

The minister’s representative said that the centre would ensure students can decide to follow classes online or onsite within the higher education setup.

The University of Buea IT Centre is part of a network of ten centres across ten different state universities set up by government.

Speaking during the ceremony, the Vice Chancellor of the UB, Prof Ngomo Horace Manga, said the centre was a welcome relief speaking directly to the mission of the institution of teaching, training, and providing an opportunity for teachers to teach students no matter where they are.

Given the huge number of students seeking admission into the University of Buea and the limited infrastructure to accommodate all these students, the Vice Chancellor said it will provide a platform for students to follow classes online.

“…one teacher can go live teaching students in all the universities connected to this system, so it is a huge transformation. One of our problems is the huge number of learners we have, because our infrastructure cannot accommodate the number of students knocking on our doors. This centre comes to solve the problem of lack of infrastructure to accommodate all students since they can follow classes online,” he continued.

Prof Ngomo said the centre would ensure that the university source for expertise in disciplines lacking in the institution to ensure students have world class learning opportunities in Cameroon like other parts of the world. 

The Vice Chancellor indicated that the centre would have qualified staff to run the facility after receiving extended training to ensure the centre meets the goals for which it was set up. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3305 of Friday November 29, 2024