The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon I.C.t. Training Centre extended its services for persons with diverse disabilities. The I.C.t. Training Centre focused more on vision impaired persons because they are the people who need I.C.t. to be equally capable as sighted persons in the work environment. From April 2015 the I.C.t. Training Centre conducts training courses for persons with diverse disabilities. The E.F.C. I.C.t. Training Centre is now a CISCO Academy. This is the only training centre in Sri Lanka which trains persons with disabilities to do CISCO courses.
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon I.C.T. Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities started in 2009 with the support of the I.L.O. Up to-date 157 vision impaired persons have been registered to do various courses conducted at this training centre. These trainees are from all districts of the country including the North and the East. The trainees consist of job seekers, school leavers, university students and people who are gainfully employed. The EFC started conducting CISCO courses together with S.L.I.I.T. and Curtin University of Technology in Australia in 2013. The CISCO Information Technology Essential (I.T.E.) course is currently conducted at the training centre.
In April 2015 E.F.C. started conducting CCNA (Cisco Computer Network Associate) courses.
Cisco certification salary surveys show consistent gains in compensation among professionals who invest time mastering the networking company’s technology.
According to the specialists, persons with Cisco certifications are often ranked in the top three highest-paid slots. Cisco’s own research indicates that certified professionals
Often earn as much as 10 percent more than peers without Cisco credentials working in similar routing and networking jobs.
According to company officials, Cisco organizes its certifications into four broad tiers designed to help professionals measure their growth over time.
In addition, professionals can earn highly specialized versions of each certification, validating their expertise in niche areas such as:
- Network design
- Routing and switching
- Voice
- Wireless
- Service provider operations
- System architecture
The demand for IT workers with Cisco certifications often outstrips the supply. At many large employers, where IT and networking roles have been brought in-house, hiring managers often rely on industry certifications to verify a job seeker’s skills and expertise. Because most Cisco Certifications stack over time, professionals can often divulge their tenure in the industry just by revealing their highest certification level.
Objective:
- The prime objective of the project is to improve the knowledge of computer and networking skills of persons with disabilities.
- Improve the employability of the trainees.
- Create a group of trainers for future training needs.
The training team consists of Ms. Manique Gunaratne from The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon and Mr. Anuradha Jayakody, Senior Lecturer from S.L.I.I.T.
For the CCNA course 9 persons with disabilities have been selected. There are 3 vision impaired, 3 hearing impaired and 3 persons with physical disabilities to be trained for the CCNA course.
The trainees are:
Ms. Kumudu Dhanasinghe (Vision impaired, Graduate from University of Peradeniya, Development Officer at Sandagala Special School), Mr. Sayed Ahamed (Vision impaired, graduate from Madurai Kamarajar University in India, Chemistry Teacher), Ms. Gamika Dilmi (Hearing impaired graphic designer), Irunika Mahawedage (Hearing impaired graphic designer), Mr. Samith Ranasinghe (Hearing impaired, Staff Ministry of Social Services), Mr. Kalinda Thilakaratne (Spinal cord injury), Mr. Chamila Suranga (Physical disability) and Mr. Sandaruwan Piyawansa (Spinal cord injury).
If anyone can create an employment opportunity for Samith, Irunika, Gamika, Chamila and Sandaruwan please contact me.
By:
Manique Gunaratne
Board Member – Visually Handicapped Trust Fund of Ministry of Social Services
