The Commercial Bank of Ceylon in collaboration with the CISCO Networking Academy has enabled around 500 students from government schools to follow IT courses of their choice on a virtual platform free of charge in 2020.
This collaboration was launched as part of the Bank’s IT education-related CSR initiatives, to make optimal use of the IT labs donated by the Bank to schools to educate students in an up-to-date ICT curriculum with CISCO Networking Academy, the world’s leading technology skills and career development programme. It provided an opportunity to transcend traditional classroom limitations during the pandemic to enable students to obtain industry-leading certifications from CISCO.
While the bank covered the lecture fee for these students, the CISCO Networking Academy provided the courses free of charge. Upon completion of these courses, students have the opportunity to win Scholarships for CISCO career-ready certifications such as CCNA, CCNP and Cyber Operations. These certifications have a high demand in the industry.
In 2021 the Bank invited students above the age of 13 interested in becoming the next generation technology experts to choose from five IT courses offered online by the Academy.
These courses are ‘Get Connected,’ a beginner course that explores essential skills such as how to use a computer, connect devices, and access search, email, and social media; ‘NDG Linux Unhatched’ that allows students to wade into the shallow end of Linux, the back-end operating system used by global titans such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, NASA, Tesla, Amazon and others; ‘Introduction to Cyber Security’ that explores cyber trends, threats and the broader topic of cybersecurity; ‘Introduction to Internet of Things’ that helps students learn about transforming any business in any industry, and ‘Entrepreneurship’.
Under its education-related Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, which emphasize IT literacy on a national scale, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon has donated 200 IT Labs to schools and other institutions and is a partner in the government-private sector ‘Smart Schools’ project currently encompassing 65 schools in the Western Province.
The Bank is also supporting a project to set up 100 Smart classrooms that focus on STEM subjects and is funding projects to set up math labs in schools and to enhance vocational training opportunities for students that do not qualify for higher education. The Bank has launched ‘Sipnena’ – it’s own innovative online educational website that brings the universe of knowledge closer to Sri Lankan children.
Additionally, Commercial Bank is funding a 150-hour IT hardware course conducted in collaboration with the Academy for ICT skills and Development and CISCO Networking Academy in selected schools to offer an ‘IT Essentials’ course for teachers and students free of charge.
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