Programming and cybersecurity courses will begin between March and April throughout the country, in blended learning. The modality allows students to earn credits to complete their bachelor's degree in computer science and continue on to tertiary careers.
The president of the Central Board of Directors (Codicen) of the National Public Education Administration (ANEP), Wilson Netto, confirmed that, currently, some 6,000 young people are studying proposals linked to technology, in addition to thousands of graduates from the final years of the Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, which reaffirms the importance of this training for the world of work today and in the future. He highlighted that thanks to the agreement signed in October 2017 with the company Cisco, the company's educational platform will be deployed at the Universidad del Trabajo del Uruguay (UTU), a project that is currently being developed jointly with the Technical-Professional Education Council (CETP), the Ministry of Industry, the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI) and the company.
The training for teachers from all over the country will culminate in February. On 15 February, the face-to-face training will be presented, with the participation of part of the Cisco team, which will arrive in Montevideo to work with the teachers. Between March and April, the training process in cybersecurity and programming, designed for thousands of young people, will formally begin.
The semester-long, blended learning initiative will take place in the country's different educational centres and in Montevideo's computer schools. Netto informed that it is accreditable in a UTU curriculum that, with 50% of 4th, 5th and 6th grade passed, it is possible to access this training, complete the baccalaureate in areas related to computer science and continue on to tertiary careers.
"These proposals are developed by the most capable and knowledgeable people in the world. The training centres that UTU will run are shared by millions of people, which opens up the possibility for young people to interact with all of them," he said.
He also mentioned the Jóvenes a Programar space, a proposal built between Plan Ceibal and CUTI, with support from the National Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (Inefop), which will seek to increase the number of participants from 700 young people to 1,000 more.
"At some point it was said that the presence of technology in itself would generate learning, but the world has shown that this is not the case. If there is no adequate pedagogical mediation, the presence of technology does not improve learning. When the challenge is pedagogical in nature and knowledge organisation formats are constructed with intensive use of technology, knowledge becomes relevant. The world has not built this challenge, we do it together. Uruguay has the privilege of participating with countries such as those mentioned above in order to build something new," said Netto. Uruguay is part of the Global Learning Network, which connects more than 400 primary and secondary schools in direct articulation with Ceibal, with equipment and projects based on the use of technology, which "allows us to exchange experiences with countries like Finland, Australia and Canada, as well as with some states in the United States," Netto recalled.
Our country stands out in the region and the world for the export of software, the penetration of fibre optics and the presence of the Internet in almost the entire territory. "This availability allows for a historic generation of opportunities," he concluded.
Source: La República
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