Ministry, Cisco agree to cooperate

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)