Cable and Wireless, Seychelles' leading telecommunications operator, has partnered with Huawei to pilot a smart classroom project.
In a country, which is often rated as having the highest literacy rate in sub-Saharan Africa, the project is expected to enhance local education standards.
The first phase of the initiative, launched this past weekend, will cover four schools in Mahe Island and Praslin Island. This is expected to be the launch pad of a national rollout.
Linda Ramkalawan, First Lady of the Seychelles; Justin Valentin, the country's minister of Education; and Lin Nan, Chinese ambassador to Seychelles attended the project launch at the Praslin Island Middle School.
Nan commended the project. "The implementation of the Smart Classroom project in Seychelles not only breaks through traditional teaching boundaries and promotes educational reform and development; it also serves as a new bridge for deepening China-Seychelles educational cooperation and enhancing bilateral friendship," she said.
The partnership of Seychelles’ Cable and Wireless and China’s Huawei builds on diplomatic relations established between China and Seychelles in 1976.
Valentin welcomed China's support for Seychelles' education. He said: "The project will help Seychelles realise its vision of smart education."
The smart classroom concept focuses on a technologically enhanced environment utilising digital tools, WiFi connectivity and interactive devices.
Seychelles is Africa's smallest country by area as well as the continent's least populated sovereign nation, estimated at 133 000 people. According to the CIO World Factbook, the island nation has the highest literacy rate of any country in sub-Saharan Africa at 96.2%.
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