Honduras
Academy Profile
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras,
Centro de Recursos de Aprendizaje CRA
Regional Academy
Established November 2001
The Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras (UNAH) has represented the core of Honduran education for over 150 years. The University, founded in the capital city of Tegucigalpa in 1847, currently enrolls 70,000 students and serves as one of the largest and most prominent educational institutions in Honduras.
In November 2001, the first Cisco Networking Academy was founded on site at the University under the co-sponsored initiative of the ITU and Cisco Systems. Today, this Regional Academy is supported by many government and private authorities, including the Honduran Telecommunications Company (HONDUTEL), in hopes that the success of this academy will help to develop personnel and to expand the local knowledge-base in the Honduran telecommunications sector.
The Academy currently enrolls 65 students. University students in Honduras must be creative with their daily schedules in order to balance their time among academic courses, professional studies and part-time work. Most of the UNAH Academy students arrange their university courses during the week, part-time jobs at local ISP institutions in the evenings, and Cisco classes on Saturdays. The UNAH Academy has been very flexible in trying to meet its students’ needs. The Academy provides an afternoon section from 4-6pm and another section from 6-8pm to accommodate those students who work part-time during the day. Patricia Hernandez, the Director of the Academy Center, adds, “We can even open a class on Sunday if the students need more course flexibility.” In addition, the Academy offers a fellowship to those students who don’t have the economic means to attend the courses on their own.
The Academy has plans to expand the program to include 2 new Local Academies outside of Tegucigalpa, with 12 new trained instructors. At present, the Regional Academy has 2 laboratories, with 16 computers in each lab. The eventual goal is to have one student per computer. This 2:1 ratio however has not limited the growth of the Academy. As Patricia Hernandez says, “It is very easy to gather support for this program because everyone believes in the importance of this project; it is supported on many levels. The government is trying to improve the education sector in Honduras, like the use of IP education, because Honduras is lacking in certified networking technicians. This is an opportunity for students to study a great course at a very low price.”
For more information about UNAH, please visit: www.cra.unah.edu.hn