IT Skills Centers: Education and Making Money (Business)

A growing trend in Yemeni entrepreneurship market is to open IT training institutes especially during the summer vacation. The students are usually young ambitions Yemenis both men and women who want to learn a new skill and become more empowered in a competitive market place. By this* IT center represent both a successful business model and a service for building Yemeni human resources. Year after year* the number of computer skills centers is increasing* especially in Sana?a. The latest statistics of the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training show that there are more than 389 licensed centers around the country. In Sana?a alone there are more than 70 such centers and double this number are non-licensed centers* especially on Taiz Street. Many students feel that it is easier from them to secure jobs if they are graduates of computer centers. ?Graduates from IT skills centers get a job faster than university students*? said Mr. Badr Al-Laithi* university student and center graduate. The courses these centers provide are in the fields of Photoshop* computer maintenance* graphic design* Microsoft Office* and mobile maintenance. Miss Ruqaia* a teacher in private school and studying computer maintenance in one of these centers* said* ?I have learned a lot and now I feel more technologically advanced and I can repair my own computer?. The requirements to establish a center are to apply the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training. Then* the ministry sends a committee to the place to check the equipment and the building of the center .They evaluate and report what they have found. If the center is qualified* they are awarded the license to work. Mr. Ahmed Abuhamra* manager of IT Excellence Center in Sana?a said* "The Ministry also takes copies of the teacher?s qualifications and syllabus content." What makes these private centers distinguished from other educational sectors is that any person of any age can enroll at a center. In public institutes* the student must either have completed the 9th grades of primary education or secondary school. Abuhamra commented ?Computer learning is a skill that can be acquired by anyone. It isn?t conditioned by specific age or education level?. Another positive feature of these centers is their flexible hours. Almost all centers provide the option of morning or evening courses. This enables students to accommodate their classes with their busy schedules. IT Skills Centers as a successful business Ahmed Abuhamra* manager of excellence center said that in the summer they make very good money since the students are on vacation* so many join these centers. He added that this helps them manage their income during the rest of the year. About the price of courses fees* Mr. Adel Alsyani* Information Technology Center in Sana?a manager* said that ordinary people are able to study any course because the fees are affordable. He added that the prices are different according to the course type and period. Centers? graduates and employment Graduates from these centers have a better opportunity to get a job. Mr.Abdulmalik Yamen* Applied American Institute manager said that graduates from his center in Computer maintenance* graphics and mobile maintenance are now employees in big companies. Moreover* Mr.Alsyani* manager of Information Technology Center* Sana?a* commented that students that graduated from his center got a job in the computer maintenance field in Yemen. He added that those students had bachelor degrees* but they took training courses in their majors and became qualified to have a job. Problems and difficulties Managers of IT centers are complaining of many problems and difficulties* but the biggest problems are the lack of approval for the diploma certificate* lack of official supervision* and lack of specific rules to establish a center* as well as the necessity of paying bribes. The first problem* securing approval for the diploma certificate* started one year ago when the Ministry of Education who used to endorse diploma certificate stopped doing so. T.Mutahar Al-himyari* director of Lifemakers? institute said* ?I don?t know why they stopped diploma approving.? This problem deprived the students who studied diploma programs of the accredited certificate* and made the centers stop teaching the diploma programs. Adel Alsyani* manager of Science and Technology Center* Sana?a* explained* ?We used to teach diploma programs* but now we stopped because they were not approved. Now we just teach courses.? The second problem is the lack of official supervision. Most of the centers? managers saying that neither the Ministry of Education nor the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training is supervising them* except during the time of license renewing. This problem resulted in low quality. ?Unqualified centers take this opportunity to hire poorly qualified teachers for little pay*? said Mr.Abdulmalik Yamen* dirctorof American Applied Institute. The third problem is the lack of specific rules to establish a center. Hameed Abdulmoghni* executive manager of American Applied Institute explained that* ?There are no standardized rules to establish a center; if you have money* can rent an apartment and get some computers* you can start without any criteria.? Lastly is the problem faced by almost all the centers* paying bribes to the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Vocational Training for license renewal and certification. Mutahr Al-himyari said* ?We pay bribes every year in order to renew the license." He further explained that the bribe has since doubled from last year....

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