Fourteen High school students were successful in completing a nine-month Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Cadet Programme sponsored by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) at the Cecil Wallace Whitfield Building. The Closing Ceremony of the 10th Cohort of the ICT Cadet Programme was held Friday under the theme, ‘A New Beginning Across All Times.’
Delivering brief remarks were Director of the DICT, Charlene Laing and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Prenell King-Rolle, who both congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to continue to pursue excellence. Team Lead of DICT, Toaschena Stuart served as guest speaker. David Curry was Master of Ceremonies.
The ICT Cadet Programme was launched in July, 2011. Its objective is to provide foundational knowledge and practical experience in Information Technology to high school students in grades 10-12.
The initiative also aims to prepare students for technological advancements to enhance the nation’s ICT capacity. Students across the country, who meet the minimum Grade Point Average of 2.50 are recommended for the programme. The programme spans nine months and aligns with the Ministry of Education’s school schedule, running from September to June.
Via the programme, students are given the opportunity to pursue internationally accredited certifications, including but not limited to W3 (Web Development skills), Cybersecurity, Networking and HTML5 Certifications.
Since its inception, the programme has had a 90% success rate. To date, 250 students have passed through the programme.
By Betty Vedrine/Bahamas Information Services
