Accenture produces grads with specialized IT course

CEBU, Philippines - The partnership between BPO giant Accenture and French non-government organization (NGO) Passerelles Numeriques (PN) has produced 24 graduates of special IT course developed in cooperation with the University of San Carlos (USC).

The program which offers a three-year certification in System and Network Administration is expected to help aid the ongoing problem of manpower supply shortage of IT professionals in Cebu.

The 24 scholars which successfully completed the program are now employed in different IT related firms, including multi-national companies (MNCs), while the program has also involved other 13 companies, aside from Accenture.

The students participated in PN’s Cebu System and Network Administration training initiative, which is supported by a four-year Accenture Foundation grand of US$1.6 million.

The 24 students comprise the first batch of graduates under the program. Coming from the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Negros Occidental, the students were enrolled in a three-year program that included semesters of academic training at USC. They studied computer hardware, network administration, basic programming (Java), systems administration (Linux and Windows Server), system security and web programming.

Three more semesters were dedicated to on-the-job training in companies such as Accenture in the Philippines. Some of the 24 graduates are now employed with Accenture.

According to Nescel Asuncion, Accenture Philippines head for corporate citizenship, there are 109 students currently enrolled in the program. Accenture and PN look forward to enrolling 90 more students into the program for academic year 2012-2013.

The support for PN’s underprivileged youth, which began in 2008, is part of Accenture’s Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, which by 2015 will equip 250,000 people around the world, including the Philippines, with skills to get jobs and build businesses.

Accenture also supports PN through pro-bono and volunteer services, which include helping students improve their English and teaching them resume writing and job interviewing skills.

“Accenture has raised the bar of its corporate citizenship agenda with Skills to Succeed,” said Lito Tayag, country managing director of Accenture Delivery Centers in the Philippines, in an earlier interview.

“Our partnership with PN allows Accenture to contribute to skills enhancement of underprivileged youth in Cebu and other provinces. This helps beneficiaries participate in and contribute to the Philippine economy, and to the future of the local IT industry,” Tayag added.

PN president Benoit Genuini said that his organization has done a survey recently which results showed that Cebu is in desperate need of hardware IT professionals, such technicians.

Because of this, PN has an existing partnership with the USC provide a specialized vocational course for the PN scholars to take the System Network Administration course, under the university’s Computer Engineering program.  (FREEMAN)