Oracle Academy-VTA agreement to help students develop IT careers

Building on Oracle’s commitment to expanding its support of education globally, Oracle Academy and the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) of Sri Lanka have signed an agreement to integrate Oracle Academy’s programmes into 35 VTA’s training centres located islandwide supporting over 10,000 students on the pathway to future 
IT careers.
Over the next three years the agreement will also facilitate the training of 150 faculty members to help develop their skills in order for them to become instructors for Oracle Academy courses in Sri Lanka.  Once the initial group of faculty is trained, they will be permitted to use the Oracle Academy infrastructure to train their students.
Under this agreement, Oracle Academy will facilitate a ‘train-the-trainer’ course to ramp up the VTA faculty members as instructors for five Oracle Academy courses including Database foundations, database design and programming with SQL, programming with PL/SQL, Java foundations, Java fundamentals and Java programming. After completing their training with Oracle Academy, the faculty members will leverage the Oracle Academy infrastructure and materials to train other faculty members 
and students. 
Established with the principal intention of providing skills to the rural masses of the country, in particular, to enhance the employability of rural youth, the VTA today is the largest technical, vocational Education and training (TVET) provider in the 
government sector. 
As a statutory body, VTA is governed by a Chairman and board of directors and caters to both the private and public sectors. The VTA provides career guidance and counselling to school leavers and youth, conducting competency-based assessments and issuing the recognized National Vocational Qualification (NVQ). VTA’s collaboration with Oracle Academy will also help meet the growing local demand for a highly-skilled technology workforce. 
“The core intention of the VTA is to make vocational training more accessible for our rural youth throughout the country,” said VTA Chairman Major General (retd.) Gamini Hettiarachchi.
“We are extremely pleased to work with Oracle Academy and provide our students with a world-class IT curriculum, boosting their confidence and equipping them with a competitive edge for successful careers.” 
“Oracle Academy supports over 3.1 million students across the globe, offering them a comprehensive programme to gain vital business and technology skills needed for success in today’s workforce,” said Oracle Thailand and Sri Lanka Managing Director Natasak Rodjanapiches.
“We are honoured to collaborate with the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) of Sri Lanka and believe that we must equip and support teachers with the innovative curriculum, training, workshops and self-study courses and other information and resources they need to facilitate student learning in and outside the classroom.”
“Oracle Academy understands and values educators and is committed to partnering with them to advance computer science as part of our collective educational mission through partnerships and direct support,” said Oracle Academy, Asia Pacific and Japan Damian Haas Regional Director.
“Partnering Sri Lanka’s VTA we can equip students with high-quality course content and skilled teachers providing a strong foundation as they enter the workforce.”