BWI: Cisco Announces Collaboration with National Institute of Open Schooling to Launch ICT Curriculum in Vocational Institutes

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Cisco Systems India Pvt. Ltd.
Thursday, February 04, 2010 12:45 PM IST (07:15 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Education & training, Information technology; Technology
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Cisco Announces Collaboration with National Institute of Open Schooling to Launch ICT Curriculum in Vocational Institutes


New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, February 04, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- -- Collaborates with 6 Accredited Vocational Institutes including one in North East

-- Minimum 100 students to be trained by each AV Institute

Cisco® today announced its collaboration with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to introduce the ICT curriculum in 6 selected Accredited Vocational Institutes (AVIs). These institutes as a Cisco Local Academy will provide IT Essentials: PC hardware and networking information technology course to around 100 students each year as a part of their offerings. The course prepares students for networking and IT-related careers in the public and private sectors, as well as for higher education in engineering, computer science and related fields. The selected AVIs are located at Ambala, Bhopal, Balangir (Orissa), Delhi, Mumbai and Shillong and several more NIOS AVI's are envisaged to start this course.

Cisco has imparted training to nine instructors from the above AVIs on IT Essentials: PC Hardware and Software at the Centre for Electronic Governance, Jaipur from January 18-23, 2010. As a part of this initiative, Cisco will provide its free web based curriculum, online course material of the Networking Academy and 24x7 technical support to the institutes.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Lokesh Mehra, Regional Manager, Corporate Responsibility, Cisco - South Asia said, 'At Cisco, we aim to enhance the employability of the youth at the grassroot level so as to enable them to harness the enormous opportunities in the ICT domain. Forging strong industry-academia partnerships is the cornerstone of our strategy aimed at bridging the existing skills gap in IT networking. We are proud to collaborate with NIOS in its efforts to bring world-class networking education to students at various centres across the country.'

Dr. S.S. Jena, Chairman of NIOS said, "Through the Networking Academy program, students of accredited vocational institutions across India will receive the benefit of Internet and networking education. This will not only help students tap opportunities in the IT world but also help meet the Prime Minister's vision of a knowledge-based economy by 2020."

Commenting on the training Dr. Anita Priyadarshini, Director, Vocational Education, NIOS said "Jobs of the future will go where there is an educated workforce, an infrastructure and a supportive government. We strongly believe that by working with industry leaders such as Cisco, we can provide the appropriate training to students to provide talent needed to support the IT industry in the region."

NIOS will introduce the IT Essentials course intended for students in upper secondary schools, technical and vocational schools, who want to pursue careers in IT and gain working knowledge of how computers work, how to assemble computers, and how to troubleshoot hardware and software issues. In addition to networking and IT skills, the curricula also reinforces 21st century skills, IT literacy, problem-solving, communication and working with others from different backgrounds. Students receive the same quality of education through e-learning curricula, labs and online assessments, as well as consistency of certifications. The Networking Academy's blended learning model integrates face-to-face teaching with a challenging web-based curriculum, hands-on lab exercises, and Internet-based assessment. Worldwide, there are 10,000 Networking Academy institutions and more than 1.6 million students in over 150 countries.

More information about programs, event and activities at NIOS is available at www.nios.ac.in and on the Cisco Networking Academy program at http://cisco.netacad.net.

About NIOS

The National Institute of Open Schooling is an organization under the Government of India, Ministry of HRD. It has been vested with the authority to enroll, examine and certify students upto pre-degree level, in academic, technical/vocational, through open and distance learning mode.

About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in India is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.


CONTACT DETAILS
Manka Mishra, Text 100 India, New Delhi, +91 9910465989, manka.mishra@text100.co.in

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, EDUCATION, IT, TECHNOLOGY, CSCO.O

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