Internet ready: Nova Scotia students graduate from Networking Academy program with valuable IT skills

As the information technology skills gap continues to widen across the globe, a group of students at the Burridge Campus of Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) are arming themselves with the computer networking experience they will need to support todays national and global organizations.

The 21 students are among the 110 young Canadians who are the first to graduate from the Cisco Networking Academy Program, a four-semester co-operative program which teaches students the fundamentals of how to design, build, and maintain computer networks. Several Burridge Campus graduates have landed jobs at local high-tech businesses and others are shopping impressive resumés throughout the province.

Nova Scotia Community College has 13 campuses throughout the province. The Cisco Networking Academy Program was launched at Burridge Campus, NSCC, located in Yarmouth, to complement the colleges three-year Computer Network Technology advanced diploma program. The Networking Academy Program will be offered at six additional campus sites later this year.

"The Networking Academy program gives our students an overview of the networking world", says Dave Arthur, one of the colleges Networking Academy instructors. "No matter where they go, NSCC graduates have the confidence they need to succeed because the curriculum taught in Yarmouth is identical to the curriculum in the United States or Europe. We have found that local employers are impressed that the college offers the Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) certification on top of our existing credentials. Everyone is familiar with the type of skills and knowledge that Cisco's CCNA provides."

The program does its part to keep students in the Maritimes in order to alleviate the information technology skills gap thats continuing to widen throughout the world. In Canada alone, more than 20,000 IT positions are currently unfilled and the number is expected to climb to 500,000 by 2010, according to Ottawa-based Software Human Resource Council. Industry Canada reports the employment growth rate of the IT sector outpaces the Canadian average by four to one.

Cisco Systems created the Networking Academy program to address this issue and today the program is offered in 64 countries and in nine languages, including more than 150 high schools, colleges and universities in Canada. Students delve into every aspect of networking from the basics of pulling cable through to such complex concepts as subnet masking rules and strategies. The curriculum assumes no prior knowledge of computers or networks on the part of the students. An eighth-grade reading, writing, and math proficiency is expected, as well as a desire to learn the curriculum.

Since it's a vendor-neutral curriculum, students can easily transfer the skills learned to the talent-hungry job market upon graduation. While Cisco equipment is used to practice and reinforce certain concepts, students gain broad-based knowledge of the operation of networks, the differences between various types of networking products, how to design and troubleshoot networks, and other general topics.

Cisco offers a complete and comprehensive Instructor Training program. While Networking Academy instructors may find it helpful to have basic computer literacy and a general knowledge of the Internet, theyre not absolutely necessary.

Jerry Mosher, 23, was immediately snatched up by SolutionInc, an Internet startup in Halifax, upon graduation. From an early age, Mosher envisioned a career in information technology and today he credits much of his good fortune to his Cisco training.

"The course delved right into routers and hubs and switches and explained why networks are the way they are", says Mosher, a systems support specialist and assistant network administrator at SolutionInc. "It was fantastic at giving a synopsis of how everything inter-relates. By having the right training and practical knowledge, I can adapt quickly to any networking issues that arise. I can provide proper input and understand the environment completely. I never get left standing dry."

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