Saturday, September 23, 2006 IBM assists Cebu schools upgrade IT curriculum
To address the mismatch of information technology (IT) skills acquired by students and the requirements of the industry, IBM is implementing a program that enhances curriculum in beneficiary-universities.
While the IBM Academic Initiative is a global program seeking to partner with institutions of higher learning all over the world, the company is coming up with a specific strategy that would fit the country’s educational institutions.
In Cebu, IBM recently signed a memorandum of understanding with three schools: the University of Cebu, the University of San Jose-Recoletos and the Cebu Institute of Technology.
Since the IT industry in the Philippines is still in its initial stages towards maturity, the lack of human resource skills has hampered the industry’s development, according to IBM.
Statistics
While the Commission of Higher Education (Ched) 2004 statistics showed that 10.25 percent of total graduates took up IT courses, the number of IT graduates has been declining since more students prefer taking up nursing and education due to opportunities for work abroad.
While colleges and universities in the Philippines are willing to take steps to close the skills gap, they often lack funding and resources to upgrade their IT curricula.
The academe can address the issue of mismatch of skills taught by the academe and the skills needed by companies by availing of the academic programs from companies, such as IBM, which provides schools resources and training that will ensure their students acquire the skills required by the market.
The partnership between IBM and the universities will help the industry since a capable workforce is one of the foundations of a booming IT economy.
Members
In the Philippines, the IBM Academic Initiative partner schools are located in Metro Manila, Cebu and Dumaguete to support IBM Philippine’s expansion into the Southern Philippine market.
The program’s member schools include the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, DSL-College of St. Benilde, Angeles University Foundation, Asia Pacific College, University of Cebu, University of San Jose Recoletos, Cebu Institute of Technology and Silliman University.
The partner schools are chosen based on their IT student population (enrollees and graduates per year), faculty profile, facilities and equipment, quality of education (as verified by the Ched) and reputation. They must also be recognized by Ched as top institutions involved in IT development.
The schools must have exceptional academic programs with an aggregate total of 15,000 college students enrolled in IT.
At a target of 30 percent of every batch, 1,250 students may enroll into the program every year. (PR)
