State Universities in Cameroon and the Congo-Cameroon Inter-State University will from January 1, 2021, be provided with high-speed internet bandwidth at a cheaper cost and given better visibility on the cyberspace.
This is the substance of a partnership agreement signed Tuesday, September 8 between the Ministry of Higher Education represented by the Minister of State, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, and Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL represented by its General Manager, Judith Yah Sunday.
Going by this partnership agreement which goes in line with Government’s desire to modernize the national system of higher education in the country, all State Universities will move from 263megabits per second at a FCFA 552 million cost per year, excluding the cost for interconnection and coverage of University dorms to a 9,334megabits per second offer at FCFA 1,075 billion including the interconnection of Universities.
This amount will be disbursed by the Ministry of Finance from part of the FCFA 6 billion endowment provided by the Government to the Ministry of Higher education to fight the deadly Coronavirus pandemic.
According to officials of the Ministry of Higher Education, the partnership will enable students and University staff enjoy quality internet at a higher speed bandwidth compared to what they had in the past years and have a better visibility online.
“For years, students and lecturers suffered a low speed network which made it difficult for our quality system of education to be exposed to the rest of the world and disrupted distant learning. With the partnership agreement that has been signed, Universities will have 40 to 50 times quality network bandwidth at an affordable cost…” Prof Samuel Nko’o, General Inspector of services at the Ministry of Higher Education told the press.
Besides the cost and the online visibility, the partnership will solve the issue of distant learning that becomes more and more necessary, especially during this period where COVID-19 imposes social distancing to all.
SOURCE: JOURNAL DU CAMEROUN
