Liberians learn computer skills – on wheels
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Loading... - Sarah Kwaka
- 15 Feb 2023
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In the town of Ganta in the Nimba County of northern Liberia, a bright yellow bus pulls up outside of a secondary school and parks under the shade of a cotton tree.
On board are 10 laptops lined up in a neat row, ready for students to come and learn typing, computer and digital literacy skills after their regular lessons.
The “Computer Lab on Wheels” was launched last November by Jeremiah Lloyd Cooper, an information and communications technology professional who has worked in internet cafes across the region and sought an innovative solution to bring the cyber era to rural communities.
He obtained US$40,000 in funding from a United Nations Development Programme business accelerator to launch his startup, the New Breed Tech Hub.
He claims it has trained a thousand students so far in computer skills and digital literacy.
“We can move anywhere and conduct training to children, to youth and women living in underserved communities,” Cooper told AFP.
He himself recalls being humiliated on his first day of university, when he turned up to an informational technology class and did not know how to type.
“I graduated from high school actually with no basic computer knowledge,” the social entrepreneur said.
“Ever since, my dream has been to be able to extend computer literacy to children graduating from high school.”
He said the business charges small fees from students and is already turning a profit.
This type of skills training has mostly been centralised in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, with high school graduates from rural communities often migrating to the city to obtain technical training.
Only 26% of Liberians use the internet, according to 2020 data from the World Bank.
The mobile course aims at boosting skills among people who already have access to computing through mobile phones and second-hand tablets and laptops.
During a recent training session, Comfort Gbelee, an 18-year-old student at the J. W. Pearson High School in Ganta – some 135 kilometres (84 miles) away from the capital Monrovia – was learning typing skills. Read More…
