MONROVIA – The former Honorary Consul General of India in Liberia Dr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva has called on the youth of Liberia to make use of technology to lead the development drive of their country.
Dr. Sachdeva is also the founder and CEO of Jeety Trading Corporation, a leading wholesale and retail firm he has been operating in Liberia for more three decades.
Delivering the keynote address at the 6th commencement convocation of BlueCrest University in Monrovia on Saturday, Dr. Sachdeva rallied he graduates and the youthful population to use their intellect and every opportunity at their disposal to shape their future for the better.
“The future is yours to shape — with the force of your will – and your intellect, I am certain of a better future for Liberia, a country that is my home,” he said.
“I have lived in Liberia for more than three decades, so I know what I am speaking of. I have lived my whole adult life in Liberia; therefore, I am a Liberian by heart and an Indian by nationality… The outgoing generation of mine, work hard to bring it this far, now it is your turn.
So, no matter what, you have to face these challenges but do so with unwavering dedication. This way, you can make a specific contribution to Liberia. You are capable.
And I cannot think of a better place to look for such people than right here at BlueCrest. And as tech graduates, you must consider what the country needs and then work to make it a reality. So, start thinking about how you might serve your nation.”
Dr. Sachdeva noted that we live in a world that changes rapidly occasioned by frequent technological advances that are disruptive yet beneficial.
He lauded the tech graduates for embarking on the journey years ago in order to “position themselves to thrive in this exciting and ever-changing world that is driven by technology.”
He said Liberia is behind the technology revolution; and as such, he was excited to be here to celebrate these graduates that have taken a bold step to venture into a career area which is inarguably the most needed in Liberia at this time.
He noted that while it is worthy to seek employment after graduation, encouraged the graduates should organize themselves into businesses, each person bringing a different piece of the technological puzzle, to begin to research, analyze and create digital solutions or software to solve the myriad of problems besetting Liberia.
At their incredibly young age, he said the graduates may have fears about venturing into entrepreneurship to not end up losing. While their fear may not be misplaced, especially at a time when Liberia and the rest of the world are more volatile, and uncertain, they should not let their fear paralyze them into doing nothing, adding “You have acquired the knowledge and have the ability, so explore — be daring. You can make the difference.”
The business mogul turned diplomat inspired the graduates to not give up on their dreams and never be afraid of making mistakes.
“You have the power to effect change. Therefore, do not say, ” I’m afraid to fail.” Those who face challenges, learn to innovate, and stay afloat. This is the secret of my success as a businessperson. Know this: Liberia needs people who will not seek the easy way out, but those who will dare to drive change amid uncertainty.”
BlueCrest, Liberia’s premier IT University continues to break barriers and add ingenuity to its many learning platforms.
Speaking at the Commencement ceremony, Dr. Umesh Neelakantan,
President of BlueCrest said university has contributed for advanced higher education, and has been complemented, recognized and approved by very important people and offices of governance where merit and quality stand tall.
Dr. Neelakantan said BlueCrest in Liberia has been able to bring radical thoughts for more than three thousand learners as on date through the opportunities created dominantly via information technology.
Since 2014, he said BlueCrest has imparted a mindset of progress among learners through different portfolios in Information technology; adding that the university has evolved into advanced status of learning portfolios like Cloud computing, Cyber security, advanced Software programming, advanced Networking platform, Health Analytics, Data Science, Machine Learning and Deep learning technologies, big data analytics and many more.
“The world has progressed and will progress by integrating information technology into all personal, professional and social endeavors. Every decision as on date is based on faster information, realized assessments, valuable judgements and authenticated inferences. New generation thoughts are vital and no one can ignore or neglect the pace of young generation,” he said.
According to him, there has been a radical shift in learning paradigms and pragmatic portfolios are dominating worldwide; noting that there will be no more constrained or secluded status for younger generations to think “what to study, where to study” because opportunities are immense.
He mentioned that quality of academics is the bedrock of the university. He disclosed that BlueCrest has additional established wings in research, projects, consultancy, corporate training, among others.
Three different schools – Graduate Studies, Openlabs and Fashion and Design run different established learning portfolios with the backup of powerful intellectual capital, he said.
The Corporate training wing in BlueCrest, according to him, is closely associated with ministries, NGOs, private organisations for conducting various capacity building training programs; while programs in Management like BBA, Entrepreneurship, NGO Management, Digital Marketing, Project Management, Grant Acquisition Management, Leadership, Crisis Management, Fashion and Design, Fashion Make Up, Pattern Making Garment Designing and many more – all have shown that BlueCrest is a happening platform.
On government’s role in providing its citizens educational opportunities, Dr. Neelakantan stated that every government in the world moves very fast with new educational opportunities for its countrym en.
According to him, it has to be a mandate by every government to provide advanced educational opportunities for the citizens of the country through greater investments. This, he mnoted, will help every inspired learner to prove his or her mettle without additional hardships of logistics and other extra costs involved.
He said it is imperative that E learning opportunities reach the door steps of the smallest subset of humanity; noting that this has been the speed at which IT backed education has revolutionized the world. And BlueCrest offers supports for such endeavours in Liberia through collaborations with schools in different counties, he revealed.
He further that BlueCrest has been recognized with the IPR copyright for the title “Let’s Make Liberia Great” for next 50 years. The school, he disclosed, has also received another global recognition –as a global associate of “International Association of Universities” in 2021.
In June this year, the university opened a new annex will host its vocational and technical courses of Information Technology, Fashion and Design, Management, NGO Management; Digital Marketing, and many other new generation perspectives.
Earlier in 2021, the University launched a scholarship program dubbed “Let’s Make Liberia Great” for undergraduate Liberian students. It is currently benefitting over 30 Liberian students.
The Scholarship worth US$130 was provided to Liberian students and will be a continued mandate from BlueCrest every year.
He then revealed that a national level interschool football cup 2022, the first of its kind in Liberia under the title Let’s Make Liberia Great has been planned from November 1to 14, 2022 at “The Invincible Park” in Monrovia and President Weah is expected to grace the event and officially open the tournament.
BlueCrest mission of “Education for Life” is well integrated with the perspectives of the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE), a pivotal body of higher education in Liberia.
He said the school has a vision to expand through different schools of horizons and the school’s hairman Mr. Dev Varyani has envisioned the status of a fully-fledged international university campus in Liberia.
However, this requires necessary and proactive speed from Ministry of Education and NCHE, he stated.
He asserted that in any country, bureaucratic and other hurdles create delayed status to progress, and he was sure that Dr Wonkeryor, the Director General of NCHE and team will support to make the vision and mission of BlueCrest vivid, substantiated, progressive and implemented, at the earliest.
“I always take inspiration from a quote “If we are destined to win, no one can create hurdles because the power of God inside our heart travels faster than one’s thought perspective”.
Learning, he noted, is a never-ending process and it is mandatory that every government shows the keenness for providing the fillip of progress to educational groups with farsightedness and strategic plans.
“Investing in education by government should have no limits because the returns for the government are never calculated in terms of monetary benefit. Instead, the returns are translated for great citizens to evolve with newer thought perspectives, social initiatives, philanthropic quests and great business initiatives.”
Meanwhile, 20 students graduated with BSc in IT, four with BBA-4 in IT, and 39 graduated with Diploma in IT. In Fashion Design, one student graduated with Diploma.