A 19-YEAR-old, from Milne Bay’s Esa’ala in Papua New Guinea, plans to fight cybercrime and cyber-bullying after witnessing his friends being attacked by internet trolls and bullies.
Madiu Andrew is the fourth son of Suzanne and Jeremiah Andrew.
The family operates a small business in the National Capital District.
On Dec 5, young Andrew did his parents and siblings proud and was awarded the Grade 10 academic excellence prize from Flexible Open and Distance Education (Fode) Central during the institution’s first graduation ceremony in Port Moresby.
Andrew enrolled with Fode in 2018 to do his Grade Seven.
“I want to be a software engineer, in the field of cyber security and I knew that Fode will be a flexible learning hub where I can relax and do my online studies normal and learning,” he said.
After Grade 6, Andrew decided to continue with his studies online, doing application and programme development.
He decided to go through Fode where studying was flexible.
The 19-year-old reckoned mainstream schools had so many restrictions. School rules and regulations were a bit tough on him. Because he was also doing online studies, there was much pressure.
“Education life with Fode is more relaxing but, yet, it teaches you self-discipline and to think outside the box,” he said.
Andrew is enrolled with Code Academy online and is studying cyber security advanced, mostly application development and he described the experience as tough and mature.
At the same time, he also did his Grade 10 with Fode.
Andrew said he was a strong believer in personal privacy, and he wanted all internet users to respect the privacy of others.
“I will continue with Fode next year, which depends on the workload I have with my online studies.
“If the workload increases, I will remain with Fode,” he said.
“If there is not much school work around, then I might just consider re-entering mainstream schools.”
Andrew said due to technology advancement, cyber security was fading, and it was his passion to help others have their online accounts protected.
He advised others to think ahead, think about the future and plan accordingly.
“If you plan to study with Fode, you must know that Fode will give you the most valuable resource of all, which is time,” Andrew said.
TheNational/TechPacific
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