As part of its broader efforts to support the advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Nigeria, an integrated payments and digital commerce company, Interswitch, has announced plans to donate IT equipment to five tertiary institutions in the country and also train their students.

The institutions selected for the initiative as second set of beneficiaries include Federal University, Owerri (FUTO); University of Benin (UNIBEN); Covenant University, Ota; Yaba College of Technology, Lagos (YABATECH) and the University of Lagos. 

Ten schools benefitted in the first edition. They were Igbinedion University, Benin City, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife: University of Maiduguri and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and so forth.

Through the initiative, Interswitch will donate network and computing devices, including routers and switches, to the schools while Cisco Networking Academy, a partnering firm for the project, will train the students to earn industry-recognized certifications.

The curriculum will cover key areas such as cybersecurity, networking, and programming, aiming at equipping the students to pursue careers in information and communication technology.

Commenting on the donations, Babafemi Ogungbamila, Executive Vice President, Group Operations and Technology at Interswitch, expressed commitment of company to improving learning, especially in STEM fields in the country.

He said, “Interswitch understands the vital role that STEM-focused education plays in the advancement of a country and also understands that this field of study requires the availability of IT equipment, hence the intervention in both the equipment donation and the training.”

Ogungbamila, in a statement, noted that this initiative makes it the second time Interswitch and Cisco would be collaborating “to equip the next generation with the tools and knowledge they need to excel in the STEM-related fields.”

In his remarks, Abdel Saidu, Solutions Engineering Lead at Cisco Nigeria, said Cisco empowers people with digital skills to develop sustainable and secure businesses, and more equitable societies for Nigeria.

He disclosed that the academy had trained since inception no fewer than 745,000 learners through partnership with government and other institutions in Nigeria and with 44 percent of them females, promising to intensify the intervention.