Looking for Information Technology (IT) training from the international donors? There are some excellent programs underway but many of them are for specific audiences. If you are a member of one of these groups, you'll definitely want to take advantage.
As for general IT training for the masses the choices are limited. Most of the foreign assistance agencies in Egypt have not gotten involved in setting up IT and computer training centers for the public.
This may be because funding IT training doesn't provide a way for donors' funds to be used to reach the masses who have little or no access to computers away from specialized schools. Donors who use money to set up computer training centers may feel they are spending money on a tiny slice of the population while their charters may be to reach and benefit larger groups of the people. "We have been asked many times to about this but believe that is something better left to the private sector", said Sally Patton, Director, USAID Education and Training Division.
This is not to say the international donors don't provide for technology training within the scope of funded programs. USAID, for example, recently provided for training of 100 persons in the electricity sector in Windows 95, MS Excel and Lotus Notes within the scope of an institutional development program. And computers and technology are being used more and more as tools in the many second language assistance programs of various donors.
United States Information Service (USIS): program for journalists
American Center for Press and Cultural Affairs operates the American Studies Resource Center (ASRC) which provides extensive print and electronic research facilities for journalists, artists and academic researchers in Cairo. ASRC facilities, located within the US Embassy, include a free mini Internet café consisting of 2 PC's connected to the Internet. In addition, they have several networked PCs which can access a collection of over 40 CD-ROM based databases.
Membership in the ASRC is not required to use its facilities, but is needed to borrow books and is available - and free - to residents in the greater Cairo region. Full details of the ASRC programs and membership requirements are available on the USIS web site: http://www.usis.egnet.net.
After the inauguration of the ASRC Internet café, the demand for IT training, especially Internet related has been enormous. According to Aleta Wenger, assistant cultural attaché (E-mail: acaoicai@usia.gov), the demand just keeps growing. At the inauguration, "we couldn't get anyone to go home! They were starved for this kind of facility and training", said Wenger.
The ASRC staff includes experienced reference librarians as well as information specialists who are available to assist researchers each in his/her field of specialization. Hands on one-on-one guidance and training is available to qualified members who wish to take advantage of the more than 40 CD-ROM databases which the library maintains. Learning effective CD-ROM searches this way can make users better prepared to take advantage of the Internet. The more the users can use the technology for themselves the more it frees up ASRC staff for more extensive research assistance tasks.
To meet the demand for Internet training, ASRC have been running two and three day classes for groups of journalists, by invitation. Generally journalists from different agencies and local publications are invited by sector. ASRC has completed training programs for political reporters, business journalists and a group specializing in government and parliament affairs. Other groups being planned for include the media (Television and radio journalists and reporters) and. The classes are done mainly in English since that is the de facto language of the internet, at least in the search engine realm, but the instructor usually does the first day discussion mostly in Arabic.
Special orientations for the facilities can be arranged for groups by contacting ASRC Director at telephone: 357-3123, or by E-mail: afanous@usia.gov.
USAID's IELP II
One of the major USAID funded projects with a significant IT training component is the Integrated English Language Training Project II (IELP II), which is run by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and Amideast. It is in the first year of a 4 to 6 year schedule.
Mark Warschauer, IELP II Educational Technology Specialist, who has published five books in the field, has strong beliefs on the value of IT, "the ability to access, make use of and process information via Information Technology is essential to success in all walks of life."
The two main goals of the project, according to Warschauer, are the professional development of teachers and encouraging the integration of Internet resources into educational programs. Professional development of the local trainers can be assisted by contact with other trainers around the world, which is made relatively easy through the Internet. Integrating the Internet into the program includes such things as the use of distance-based learning and long distance exchange programs that are done in cyberspace. Student skills are promoted in such areas as Internet search techniques and getting away from being "forced passive consumers of the rich multimedia based information on the Internet", said Warschauer, "they can shape the multimedia content themselves".
There will be at least two new learning laboratories established by the project at facilities of the Ministries of Education and Higher Education. These centers planned to be opened by fall 1999, will be state of the art centers for computer assisted language education, targeting English language trainers and the people who teach those trainers. But the project is not just about building new facilities. IELPII plans to run technology transfer programs in many of the Ministries' existing facilities too.
The IELP II office located in Dokki welcomes inquiries and can be reached at 338-4781.
The British Council
Another approach, commercially available courses for everyone, is being successfully operated by the long established British Council (http://www.britcoun.org). The Cairo office was opened in 1938 and was the first British Council office established outside of Britain. Since that time it has grown to one of the largest of the more than 100 Teaching Centers the Council operates worldwide.
Worldwide, the British Council promotes educational, cultural and technical co-operation between Britain and other countries. The Council's work is designed to establish long-term and worldwide partnerships and to improve international understanding. Last year they worked in over 110 countries around the world.
According to Amira Nassar, Assistant Marketing and Customer Service representative for the British Council in Cairo, the British Council in Egypt forms the Cultural Section of the British Embassy The Council promotes various educational, cultural and training activities between Britain and other countries. These training activitis include language and computer courses, professional development seminars, marketing and management courses. Many courses lead to internationally recognized examinations run by Cambridge University. The Council also administers scholarships and scientific exchanges, in addition to offering library services to the public.
The British Council Egypt has two training centers where computer courses have been taught: Agouza and Heliopolis. One outstanding feature of the British Council's computer courses is that all of the instructors are also qualified English as a second language instructors. "This can really make a difference with our international students," say Ms. Sally Gabriel, The Cairo Manager for IT teaching.
British Council Teaching Center, Agouza - no more computer classes
Perhaps the biggest news in this sector is the closing down of the British Council's computer training at its Agouza center. Situated in a villa with an attractive garden, the Teaching Center in Agouza is the second largest in the British Council's worldwide network with around 4,000 students studying each term. It is located at 192 Sharia el Nil (tel: 303-1514), and managed by Mr. Kevin Smith.
Until this month, the Agouza center operated three departments: English (including Business Communications), Arabic and Computer studies. Effective at the beginning of September however all computer training has been moved to the new center in Heliopolis to make way for the new multimedia center in Agouza for all language students.
The Council's new Heliopolis Center
The Heliopolis center opened in September 1997 and began its computer courses after the past Ramadan. The center, headed by Ms. Jo Maher, is located at 4 Sharia El Minya off Nazih Khalifa, Heliopolis, Tel: 452-3395 / 96 / 97.
The Computer Department has a purpose built laboratory with a computer available for each student. Courses are offered at three levels:
Certification / CLAIT
Students successfully completing the courses receive certificates issued by the British Council indicating their accomplishment. Students are also encouraged to take the CLAIT one (Computer Literacy and Information Technology) and IBT two (Integrated Business Technology) exams. The British Council, Egypt is an authorized testing center for CLAIT. The examinations are conducted here, the papers are then sent to the UK for scoring, and the results along with achievement certifications are returned via the local British Council.
Students of English are also able to practice in the labs using computer assisted language learning programs (CALL).
Course Fees
The keyboarding course costs 290 LE per student, all other courses cost 340 LE. Each course involves eight two-hour lessons for a total of sixteen hours of classroom study. The lessons are held twice a week, either Sunday and Tuesday or Monday and Wednesday, for four consecutive weeks. The Council also can make arrangements for businesses or schools who would like to arrange special scheduling (such as weekend classes) for their staff.
Conclusion
While the international donors certainly provide computer and information technology aspects in their funded programs, most of these are directed at certain professions. If you happen to qualify, they are an excellent resource. Teachers, journalists, artists and academic researchers should avail themselves of this training at their earliest convenience. High quality facilities and support is in place now. On the other hand, Information Technology training programs and facilities for the general public, apart from the British Council, has been largely left in the hands of the private sector.
