Situation with IT courses will be put in order till the end of the year

“Belarus considers the possibility to introduce accreditation of various IT courses”, – the director of the Coordinating Methodological Centre (CMC) of the association “Infopark” Eugene Lastouski mentioned in an interview done by “Computer News”.
Coordination and Methodological Center “Infopark” is already working on the creation of a register of all Belarusian education centers which promote education in the IT field. Taking into account the comments of students and employers the rating of such agencies will be conducted on the basis of this register.
Eugene Lastouski also added: “The second stage will involve inviting of all of such agencies to undergo voluntarily the procedure of assessing the quality of education. It will be held on the application principle, by filling in questionnaires prepared by the CMC. A separate survey of the quality of education in various educational centers will take place among employers. As an independent tool will also be used by leading international test platform”.
With a glance to the information received, some interim conclusions about the current state of our IT education will be made. Comparing them to the ones from other countries, recommendations for its improvement and some mandatory requirements for training centers will be made. The centers that meet them will get accreditation.
According to the “Infopark” representative’s words, first ranking system is a kind of “quality mark” and in future it will possibly become “a prerequisite for this kind of activity.”
Eugene Lastouski explained the need for accreditation of educational institutions in the field of IT by “improving the quality of education in those training centers that really pursue this aim, and the need to protect themselves from those who want to cash in on the issue today.” “It is also necessary for the organizations involved in the important for the Belarusian IT sector training, offering services that will satisfy not only the audience’s needs, but also the needs of the students’ future employers”.
It is noted that the certification will concern both teachers and graduates in a specialized center of CMC. Besides, regarding the process, it is planned to involve companies that act as employers.
According to the decision of the government of Belarus № 384 dated March 28, 2011, the accreditation system is expected to start working till the end of the year.
“I invite all the training centers to take part not only in the formation of the registry. We are open for constructive dialogue on all matters relating to the improvement of IT education “, – said Eugene Lastouski in an interview with “Computer News”.
According to the abovementioned decision, The Center will be responsible for performing the following functions: monitoring of international market training programs for IT professions and global trends study, maintaining a database of relevant technologies and training programs, compiling a list of professions and specializations, the determination of the qualification requirements for them, as well as the development and implementation of vocational guidance qualification tests, accreditation of organizations involved in training, retraining and advanced training of specialists in the field of IT and certification of teachers.