ICT Labs put computer theory into practice

Sep 16, 2008

MEMORIES of her first Information Technology (IT) class are fresh in her mind. The teacher asked the class of over 80 students to gather around his desk and observe as he assembled the components of a computer systems unit.

By Stephen Ssenkaaba

MEMORIES of her first Information Technology (IT) class are fresh in her mind. The teacher asked the class of over 80 students to gather around his desk and observe as he assembled the components of a computer systems unit.

As students fell over each other trying to get the best view, Alice Kejo sat at her desk and waited to be briefed by her classmates. She spent the next three years attending such a class.

“We spent half of the time copying notes and the other half struggling to access facilities,” she says. Kejo completed her Bachelor’s degree in IT recently.

Apart from the theoretical concepts she learnt in class, she could not do practical computer work until she went to ICT labs, a Ntinda-based centre for industrial training and internship.
Located on Musana Plaza on the Ntinda Kisaasi Road, ICT labs provides hands-on IT skills to graduates, enabling them to put the theoretical knowledge acquired at university into practice.

The centre admits IT degree and diploma holders as well as Microsoft Certificate Systems Engineering and Cisco Certified Networking Association graduates.

“Universities and colleges provide a lot of theory to students, yet the employers need practical skills,” says Albert Aguta, the managing director. “Our aim is to bridge the gap between the lack of hands-on experience and practical competence needed by employers.”

According to an IT expert, about 80% of IT graduates who undertake job interviews fail at the practical level. This, he says, is due to the lack of exposure to practical lessons. The absence of proper industrial training and internship only makes the situation worse.

Prof. Venasius Baryamureeba, the dean of the faculty of Computing and Information Technology at Makerere University, says many organisations do not provide adequate industrial training for IT graduates. Apart from telecom companies, most organisation have no training programmes for IT graduates. He says most trainees are never allowed to touch the equipment. Sometimes they are turned into clerks and messengers.

Baryamureeba says problem-based learning (where students apply practical knowledge to solve problems) in IT is necessary to help learners sharpen their skills.

Hands-on

Every week, learners at ICT labs get three hours of intensive hands-on skill development that exposes them to IT practical applications.

Instruction involves 10-20 minutes of introductory remarks and hands-on demonstration using computer equipment. “After that, we let the students experiment with the various tools by themselves,” says Aguta.

During the course, students learn network installations and configurations, server side systems management, hardware maintenance, printer installations, power systems and management and systems security implementation.
They also learn Implementing Transfer Control Protocol and Internet ProtocolTCP/IP (protocols used in internet installation), outlook and network configurations. They are also trained in human resource components.

At the end of every lecture, instructors give learners a chance to test the experiments to make sure they work. The course is characterised by intense, systematic instructions with constant revision exercises and discussions between learners and their instructor.

Each training course lasts a month after which assessors evaluate the outcome of the course and its relevance to the learners’ needs.
“I had never been to a server room. But at ICT Labs, everything has been demystified. I can now repair, install different software and anti-virus programmes and do configurations. I am in a better position to compete for an IT job,” says Gertrude Kimera, a computing and IT graduate.

“When I was a student, I hardly carried out practical lessons,” says Jackie Apio. “Things are more practical here. We have unlimited access to facilities. Our instructor gets down to one’s level.” Apio is a Cisco Certified Networking Association graduate.

In this increasingly competitive world, skills as those offered at ICT labs will go a long way in determining the success of graduates and professionals.

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