Ministry, Cisco agree to cooperate

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Education and computer software and hardware maker Cisco System Inc. have agreed to cooperate in providing an Internet-based training program for vocational secondary schools.

Gatot Hari Priowirjanto, the director for vocational secondary education at the ministry, said the training program aimed at preparing vocational students to become skilled workers with international certification and qualifications.

"As an initial step, only five vocational schools will join the program which begins in June," Gatot told a media briefing here on Thursday.

The five schools, which will join the program, are located in Jakarta, Bandung, and Yogyakarta and will be under the supervision of the University of Indonesia. They were selected from about 30 schools, which had applied to take part in the program.

Gatot said the government would provide a US$5,500 loan for every school to help them prepare the infrastructure before starting the training.

"After two years, the loan must be repaid and be given to other participants," he added.

Indonesia's Cisco country manager Hermanto Murniadi said Cisco would provide the curriculum free of charge as part of Cisco Systems worldwide project called Cisco Networking Academy Program (CNAP).

"Using the Internet as a media of learning, the program will provide all activities, including on-line registration, modules, and assessment," Hermanto said.

In order to provide the infrastructure, Cisco would give the schools a 50 percent discount for each package which is normally sold at $22,000, he said.

The program has been developed since 1997. Nowadays, there are 114 countries worldwide developing the program with a total of 6,376 educational institutions. In Indonesia, since 1999 the University of Bina Nusantara has joined the program, followed by the University of Indonesia, Pelita Harapan University, and Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

"We expect the program will contribute around 300 skilled members of the labor force per year who are capable of handling Cisco's products," he added.(03)