Vaz Announces Digicel Internship for CCNA Graduates

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Information and Telecommunications, Hon. Daryl Vaz, has announced that Digicel is to establish a yearly internship programme for 10 persons who complete the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) programme.
However, Minister Vaz expressed disappointment that only 10 per cent of the persons who registered for the CCNA programme, continue through to becoming certified. He was making his contribution to the 2009/10 Sectoral Debate in Parliament last Wednesday (July 22).
CCNA is an internationally recognised Information Technology (IT) certification programme. It is also the principal technical qualification for persons who wish to work in the hardware side of computer networking.
CCNA certification validates the ability to install, configure, operate and troubleshoot medium-sized routed and switched networks, including implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a Wide Area Network (WAN).
The Minister noted that based on the performance of the interns over each one-year period, Digicel will employ top performers.
“This initiative is an example of enlightened self interest, and I now challenge all other companies that could benefit from employing highly trained ICT (Information and Communication Technology) professionals, to offer similar incentives to other participants who successfully complete the Cisco programme,” Mr. Vaz said.
He also commended the Creative Production and Training Centre (CPTC), for its significant contribution, in 25 years of existence, to the preservation of culture and the documentation of the country’s national heritage.
“Their CTV channel, along with that of the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ), continues to offer material which presents to, particularly, the younger generation, some of the rich music which the older ones among us probably took for granted, and affords exposure to our proud history and achievements,” he said.