Jun 28, 2012
AMMAN -- A virtual ICT academy to train information technology majors on skills needed in the labour market will be launched this year, according to the ICT Association of Jordan (int@j).
The online academy, which will be launched in cooperation with private sector entities and experts in different fields, seeks to give ICT students an opportunity to undergo professional training on technical and non-technical skills that will help them join the workforce.
"Students majoring in ICT-related fields in Jordan lack the necessary skills to join the market... the idea behind the academy is to reach out to students and acquaint them with needed ICT skills," int@j CEO Abed Shamlawi said in an interview with The Jordan Times this week.
Around 6,000 Jordanians graduate annually with ICT-related degrees, while some 22,000 students are currently studying ICT-related majors at the country's universities, according to int@j.
Shamlawi added that the association, in cooperation with the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, is revising the graduate internship programme.
The initiative, which seeks to help IT students find jobs, will be restructured soon to increase the number of beneficiaries, he said.
Since its launch in 2009, the programme has benefited more than 1,000 IT graduates from different universities, according to the ministry.
Fresh graduates in various IT-related majors, or those who have not been employed in the sector for up to two years, can compete for private sector jobs by submitting their CVs to the programme's website (www.gip.gov.jo).
Selected applicants receive 12 months training and are secured employment at a private sector firm with a JD300 monthly salary as well as social security and health insurance coverage.
The government subsidises 50 per cent of each beneficiary's salary, while the rest is paid by the companies that train the students.
© Jordan Times 2012
