Commissioning of the ENAM digital room: a new venue for the widespread use of ICT through education and training
The National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) now has a digital room. This state-of-the-art facility was commissioned on Thursday 30 July 2020, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation, Aurelie ADAM SOULE ZOUMAROU, and her colleague in charge of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Eléonore YAYI LADEKAN.
The ENAM digital room is equipped with 45 desktop computers, an interactive whiteboard, a storage server, a router, a video projector and dedicated management software. It was built by the Beninese Agency for Universal Service in Electronic Communications and Postal Services (ABSU-CEP), in partnership with ENAM, which provided the room and the furniture. Subscription fees for a high-speed internet connection are covered by the State for a period of one year.
With the commissioning of this facility, “the National School of Administration and Magistracy is taking a qualitative leap into the digital civilisation”, said Professor Epiphane SOHOUENOU, Director of this higher education institution founded in 1984.
The facility inaugurated is one of the initiatives of the Government of His Excellency President Patrice Talon, who included the “Widespread use of ICT through education and training” among the flagship projects of his 2016-2021 Action Programme, recalled the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. According to Eléonore YAYI LADEKAN, this investment will, among other things, make it easier to use the e-learning platform launched on 11 May 2020 to ensure educational continuity in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis.
In a direct exchange with the student community on “the role of young people when the world is in crisis”, the Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation, Aurelie ADAM SOULE ZOUMAROU, stressed the importance of young people making their mark on the world through their capacity for innovation and for finding solutions. In her view, the new digital room is more than a place where computer equipment is on display. It gives ENAM students the opportunity to access the same online tools and resources as their peers at universities in so-called developed countries. The Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation also recalled that the inauguration of this facility gives concrete form to the vision of President Patrice Talon, who aims to “transform Benin into the digital services platform of West Africa for accelerated growth and social inclusion”.
A total of 28 digital rooms have already been installed in educational institutions, including 12 in primary education, 12 in secondary education and 4 in schools of excellence and girls’ schools.
In higher education, like ENAM, the University Institute of Technology (UIT) of the University of Parakou is also receiving a digital room this year.