Tech firm Huawei kicked off its annual Seeds for the Future programme with an opening ceremony last Friday (October 22).

The programme is an educational and cultural exchange which has benefitted many Jamaican students over the
years.

This event sought to honour students from Jamaica and highlight students from Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

In her remarks, Fayval Williams, minister of education, youth and information, said: “The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is committed to ensuring that none of our students is left behind as we seek to bridge the education
divide that exists in our society and prepare our people to be flexible and adaptive to the new world.”

Williams added: “It is within this context that we welcome and applaud Huawei Technologies for this project. It is perfectly in line with our efforts to deepen our students’ exposure to ICT and its great possibilities.”

Allen Chen, Huawei’s vice president of public affairs and communication for Central America and the Caribbean, opened the virtual session, followed by Chinese ambassadors for Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, all welcoming those in attendance, acknowledging and congratulating the 54 students who will be participating from the three countries.

They disclosed details of their partnership with Huawei and expressed how grateful they are to contribute to these students journey of learning.

The top student of last year’s programme, Jheanel Brown from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, was also invited to congratulate this year’s participants and share her past experience.

She gave assurances that this programme is something to look forward to.

“I would like to wish heartfelt congratulations to the 2021 cohort,” Brown said.

“You are blessed beyond measure and, of course, this Huawei seeds for the future 2021 is going to be spectacular, even though it is virtual. I can speak from first-hand experience when I say I had a blast last year. It was one thing to have interacted with both UTech (University of Technology) and UWI students, but there’s so many more perks to having been participated.”

Principals from participating schools, including Professor Dale Webber, principal of The UWI, along with Professor Colin Gyles, acting principal of UTech, were able to extend their gratitude and thanks to Huawei for allowing their students to be involved in such a programme.

“The Huawei Seeds for the Future study programme has been an excellent avenue for building ICT skills,” Webber said.

“We are grateful to Huawei for their ongoing support and look forward with great anticipation to what greatness we can achieve in this country and this region.”

Gyles stressed how important a programme like this is to improving the lives of our youths and urged them to make the best out of this opportunity.

Last year, Jamaica had a total of 12 participants; however, this year there will be a total of 29 students from both The UWI and UTech.

Over eight days, starting yesterday (October 25), the 29 selected students will receive from recognised technological experts, virtual trainings, ICT courses, collective and Chinese culture courses in order to inspire the next generation of leaders through technology.

Huawei, with this new edition of Seeds for the Future, has trained more than 9,000 students in more than 130 countries worldwide in the ICT sector, reaffirming its mission to provide educational opportunities for young people in the region.