year of the introduction, on a voluntary basis, of free education and certification program certification ECDL (European Computer Driving License) for students of Secondary Education public and private schools of the same type, as well as for soldiers and the unemployed.
This was announced by the Minister of Education and Culture Costas Kadis, in his greeting to the press conference for the presentation of a certification programme ECDL in Public Education, which was co-organised in the morning by the Ministries of Education and Transport and the Digital Champion, Director-General of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, and added that this is a significant innovation in educational events of Cyprus, and at the same time a very important social policy of the Government.
For the first time, he continued, the possibility is given to students, soldiers, the unemployed and People with Disabilities (Pwd) to attend the particular program, and to certify free their digital knowledge and skills with internationally recognized diploma.
As he said, the Ministry of Education and Culture, in collaboration with all stakeholders, decided from the current school year introduction, on a voluntary basis, the training and certification ECDL for students of Secondary Education public and private schools of the same type, as well as for soldiers and the unemployed.
The choice of a specific programme for certification, was based on the criteria that is recognized standard in 140 countries, is included as a measure to promote digital literacy in the digital strategy of Cyprus, it is accepted in universities in Cyprus, in Europe and internationally, and 80% of the content of the programme ECDL taught already through the course of computer science in the high schools.
“With the signing of this agreement, the Ministry of Education and Culture has already reshape the curriculum of the course is completely in line with the ECDL. Based on the above, it turns out that the remarkable innovation upgrades the class of Computer science in the High school circle and, by extension, the training provided in the area of digital skills,” he said.
He also mentioned that the prestigious international certification of ECDL, which will be provided free of charge to all students, is separated into four sections.
In particular, continued mr. Kadis, the first class will be certification to the section of Text Editing, in class B in the section of the spreadsheets and Presentations and in C grade section of the Database.
“At the same time, the Computer laboratories will be equipped with books and other approved educational material ECDL for the convenience of students. With regard to the soldiers and the unemployed, will be able to monitor the programs of the above modules and to receive the free certification in the State Institutes of further Education”, he noted.
He said, moreover, that the international standard for certification of ECDL will be offered through the Cyprus Association of Information technology, which is the only independent, non-profit, scientific and professional Association of Computer science in Cyprus.
As mentioned, the Computer science professors will attend training seminars and training on the management platform of the system and the platform for conducting the examination ECDL, before the start of the second four-month period of the current School Year.
“In addition, we will have, if they wish, the opportunity for free training and certification ECDL CTP (Certified Training Professional) and the free training/certification in matters of information security. The new institution of certification through our education system, it is expected that it will relieve a lot of our students from the cost and the trouble of the courses and the respective examinations and at the same time meet the needs of the labour market, but also, more generally, requirements of the modern age, which require digital qualified professionals,” he concluded.
Source
Cyprus: Free training for ECDL in schools
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