Emerging jobs in the Philippines are increasingly taking a turn towards the technological, with many companies seeking professionals who can help them navigate their digital transformation journeys. However, universities and colleges have been hard-pressed to produce graduates ready to take on these jobs, given the challenges they face in updating their course offerings to keep pace with rapid technological growth.
Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has developed Huawei ICT Academy to answer the need for more ICT professionals worldwide. The academy, now present in 20 countries, boasts of a comprehensive range of ICT career certifications, prioritizing knowledge sharing and cultivation of ICT talent through partnerships with colleges and universities.
This year, Huawei aims to partner with eight universities and colleges, and targets to have 500 students enrolled in Huawei ICT Academy courses. With this, Huawei is looking to have 200 students certified by end of the year.
Course Offerings
In the Philippines, the Huawei ICT Academy is focused on sharing knowledge with both students and teachers on six key areas: IP routing and switching, WLAN, security, storage, cloud, and big data. Students of partner schools are given access to the Huawei Academy website, which has free-of-charge courses students can go through on their own, along with other ICT-related resources. These online courses, developed with Huawei’s leading industry knowledge, include lectures and training modules, which aids students in gaining the necessary skills needed to pass the internationally recognized Huawei Certification.
The online courses are augmented by classroom sessions led by the school’s own teachers who had previously taken Huawei’s rigorous “Train the Trainers Program” and earned the Huawei Certification themselves. This way, the teachers are armed with the most updated knowledge and skills to pass on to their students.
Huawei ICT Academy also offers an inter-school student competition, the Huawei ICT Competition, where students from Huawei’s partner universities and colleges participate in a national competition that tests their ICT skills. Winning students will be sent to the regional meet in Singapore in 2020, to compete against winners from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia. From there, winners will join the global competition in China, also in 2020.
Partner Schools
Huawei ICT Academy was first launched in the Philippines in 2018, with four partner schools: University of South-Eastern Philippines, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology, Bulacan State University, and the Dela Salle University Science Campus. In 2019, Mapua University and Polytechnic University signed-up as well. These schools were chosen by Huawei based on their course offerings, as well as their focus on ICT-related education, such as computer science, electronic engineering, or Information Technology.
Courses offered by the academy are modular, which means that university or college partners may choose which programs to incorporate into their current course offerings. For instance, Mapúa Makati took on the Huawei ICT Academy course on storage, which needs prior knowledge of IP routing and switching, a course which the university requires of their students. Mapúa Makati partnered with the Huawei ICT Academy this year.
Once students have completed Huawei’s ICT courses, Huawei also provides them with vouchers to pay for the certification exam.
“I was amazed by the wealth of knowledge available on the Huawei ICT Academy website,” says electronic engineer Macdeib Borbon, a Mapúa Makati graduate and Huawei Certified ICT Professional. He currently works as an engineer in Huawei Philippines.
“The online courses and its many resources helped me prepare not only for the certification exam but also for the board exam. And because I had Huawei certification, I was able to get a job in their Philippine office.”
“Very few universities and colleges have ICT Technology Academy,” said Daniel Guo, Vice President and COO of Huawei Philippines, says. “That’s where we come in. The Huawei ICT Academy supports ICT students by sharing with them the latest information and skills that will make them competitive when they enter the job market. This is our contribution to local talent development in the Philippines.”