My aunty called me a few weeks ago asking me to check out ICT University to see if it is something she should consider sending her daughter to. My other Aunty had the same question to ask me about her son. I immediately remembered meeting one of my school mates from secondary school who I ran into about two years ago. He works as an administrator for ICT University here in Cameroon. I can’t quite remember his actual function and I have lost his business card so I couldn’t really call him to talk about the institution. I had to do my research before ruining my cousins futures.
Meanwhile I think many people do not need schooling after high school to achieve their educational goals, I am also aware that we are not in a society where people are brought up in a way that they can easily assume their futures without any guidance. If I stand here and make a case for students to ditch traditional schooling in exchange for YouTube, many will end up binge watching music videos and shaku shaku dance tutorials the entire time they are supposed to be using to acquire a skill. I am also aware of the strained parent - children relationships that can come from children refusing to go to school; advancing YouTube university arguments to their parents. I do not think many here have the mental capacity to grow under such circumstances, so I will always advise the young ones to stay in school for as long as possible.
That said? is ICT University a good higher learning institute?
The school is being branded as an American University in Cameroon and we know all too well about how the name America automatically demands respect in this country. “Founded in 2010, The ICT University is an American institution of international repute, registered and chartered in the State of Louisiana, USA (charter number: 40023338D) and also accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education in Cameroon (Accreditation/Approval number: 02/04505/N/MINESUP/DDES/ESUP/SAC/ebm of 21st September 2012).” That is according to the school’s website.
At first glance, I wasn’t impressed by the school’s website. It is not that bad but for a school that teaches technology related subjects, I expected more. Secondly the school claims to have locations in Africa, the USA, and Asia but nowhere do I see information about their campuses in those places. Their US address is a P.O Box (PO Box 86236, Baton Rouge, LA 70879, USA) which means there is actually no physical location. It appears to have been registered in the US as an online learning portal ( I doubt it has the credentials of an accredited University). The only actual location ever mentioned on their website is their Messassi campus in Yaounde. Universities with multiple campuses usually state that on their websites and allow you apply and chose which campuses you are applying for. I wanted to assume this site was tailored for the Cameroon campus only but I expected to see links to other campuses.
Digging further, I realized the institution’s tagline is “Research Matters.” Also, according to their website, “The ICT University prides itself on offering an intimate, cutting edge campus environment disposing of all resources essential for producing tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.” So I went ahead to click on the research button on the menu of the website. All I saw was two research thesis/dissertations from 2015 none of which carry a IT intensive topic. I expected more. I now went looking for their research tools. I was hoping at least to see that they have secured access to at least one proprietary research database like ACM library but all I saw was a link to what seemed to be a basic open source research platform by one Southern University. At least they could have MIT OpenCourseWare for starters and to show that they actually know the few free but good learning resources that are out there.
It doesn’t say this anywhere but Im guessing ICT stands for Information and Communications Technology. My next thing was to look at the courses being offered and by name alone, they look like regular courses you would find in other accredited universities;courses that are assumed to have a career path. Among others, they have TOP-UP BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ICT, TOP-UP BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, Master of Science In Information And Communications Technology, Master of Science in Information Systems and Networking, PhD In Software Engineering, and PhD in Data Communication And Networking.
CONCLUSION
I think ICT University is just a business that cannot offer you any real education but if I had to chose between this and attending one of the government universities, I would prefer to attend ICT University just because I know the tutors there would know they are not worth their salt and should therefore be unassuming compared to many lecturers at government universities that might be lacking but have the backing of the government and the age of their institutions to fuel their arrogance.
Im guessing you now want to know if I asked my aunts to send their children to ICT University and my answer is YES but that isn’t all. My primary reason is that I wanted them to be in Yaounde for an opportunity to learn french. I also suggested that their education be supplemented with access to online learning platforms like Udemy, Skillshare, and Lynda. With these online learning platforms, I expect them to use their lecturers just as guides while they go on and learn practical skills that can get them self employed. They all want to learn software programming and those online platforms will help them get there with or without their lecturers.
From what I have learned about government universities, ICT university appears will be less demanding allowing them time to go out and learn other things on their own. It would even be great if such institutions supplement their education with platforms like Udemy. Why not make it compulsory for the students and include it in the fees. Having access to a proprietary database will also make “Research Matters” look like they actually mean it.
Then the boy one writes to me that he'll be going to Ngoa-ekelle instead. His reasoning - If i'm going to be learning more online anyway, why waste money paying huge fees? He's getting it and I'm loving it.
- Tino Foy