More than 100 Huawei ICT Programme beneficiaries are set to sit for their final national exams on Friday at Zetech College. The top six students from the national exam will be sent to South Africa to attend the regional competition. 

In July 2018, Huawei, the world-leading information and communications technologies (ICT) solutions provider, launched Huawei ICT Competition Southern Africa 2018-2019 in Kenya.

The competition aims to provide a platform for global ICT talents to compete and communicate, promote high-quality ICT talent development and drive the growth of a robust and sustainable ICT talent ecosystem.

Speaking ahead of the exams, Adam Lane, Huawei's head of public affairs, wished the students success, expressing confidence that the Kenyan beneficiaries are well positioned to compete on the global stage. 

"Our inaugural class is full of talented students and I am confident that as they start their national examination tomorrow they are well prepared to challenge their competitors from other African countries," Lane said. 

Fourteen local universities, including Strathmore, Zetech, Multimedia and Machakos, were involved in the competition's road show with more than 4,000 students signing up for the competition. 

In the preliminary stages of the competition, students were taken through a rigorous selection exercise, after which 600 were given the opportunity to proceed for training. That number was reduced to 100, who were then taken to a boot camp for further coaching. 

"For ICT training to be efficient, the trainers have to be equipped with the knowledge base to be able to successfully produce high quality professionals. It is for this reason that the Huawei ICT competition included training of trainers from the 13 universities that serve as Huawei ICT Academy whom we are confident will be able to effectively transfer the knowledge to their students," Lane said. 

Through the competition, Huawei Technologies aims to improve the education system for ICT personnel training in Kenya and make continuous efforts to develop elites for ICT industry in addition to linking the partners. 

Upon the completion of the finals, Huawei Technologies will host an awards ceremony in Nairobi for the six best students who will be sent to South Africa for the regional competition. If successful at the regional level, the six will get an opportunity to go to China for the global finals that will involve candidates from more than 50 countries.

Contact the writer at edithmutethya@chinadaily.com.cn