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Computing skills are in great demand. So much so that by the year 2000, according to research firm IDC, the number of unfilled computing jobs in western Europe will exceed the total number of people employed by computer companies, writes The Times.
Employers perceive that part of the problem lies with education. A survey by NOP for Microsoft, published earlier this year, found that 80 per cent of employers did not think universities were teaching their students the right computing skills.
Several hi-tech manufacturers have devised programmes for combatting the skills shortage by providing training materials for university and sixth-form students. These include Cisco's networking academies scheme, designed to teach generic networking skills and specific product knowledge.
In May, the University of Central England (UCE), the former Birmingham Polytechnic, became the first Cisco Regional Networking Academy in Britain. UCE has adapted the Cisco material for inclusion in a new B Sc course in computernetworks for business and also hopes to include it in a B Engg course in networking and communications.
The Cisco material accounts for about 10 per cent of the B Sc course. ``A lot of the knowledge in the Cisco course is what I'm teaching anyway,'' says Neil Workman, senior lecturer in communications and networks at UCE. ``For the first semester, it's all general networking. That's why it's so popular and why we can integrate it into our courses.''
But it will inevitably give the course something of a slant towards Cisco and its products and students can reckon to end up with a Cisco qualification in addition to their degree. Workman says UCE's students are keen to gain manufacturer-specific experience and applicants often ask whether a course includes products from market leaders. A Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) qualification would cost about 6,500 pounds if learnt on commercial courses, so their enthusiasm is understandable.
Local businesses are also keen. ``I've already got businessesasking me when I'll have students rolling off the courses, even though it's three years away,'' says Workman. ``One networking company more or less said it could take the lot.''
The big question for educational institutions is whether such close involvement with commercial companies is healthy. Workman is aware of the risks. ``We need to keep the academic element,'' he says. ``The danger of product-specific training is that when students move out of the area they've been trained in, they don't know what to do next.'' He believes at least 60 per cent of a university course should be purely academic.
But Cisco has donated not just the teaching materials, but also 20,000 pounds worth of networking equipment--and more will follow in two years. The economic argument, combined with the fact that students will get experience of modern equipment, seems hard to resist.
``The Cisco curriculum is educational as well as training, but when it says how do you build a network, you have to use hardware and it's goingto be Cisco's hardware,'' says Workman. ``I have no problem with that because they've saved us 20,000 pounds by giving us the equipment. We've set up a partnership. We display Cisco's logo.''
Colleges of higher and further education will also make ideal networking academies. One of the first to sign up is Nescot, based near Epsom, Surrey. Nescot will start teaching Cisco material next September and hopes to include it in both IT and computing courses at all levels from GNVQ to B Sc. For the past year, the college has also been using some Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) materials, which account for up to 25 per cent of some courses.
Gavin Dykes, head of Nescot's business management and IT department, sees material from companies such as Cisco and Microsoft as a means of ``adding value'' to academic courses.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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