FOURTEEN students have been honoured at an awards ceremony for the pilot Cloud Technology Academy.
The Cloud Technology Academy trained the graduates with the skills and accredited qualifications identified by ICT sector employers for new job opportunities in the growing area of cloud technology.
The academy comprised 15 weeks of training for the students at Belfast Met to achieve the HP Accredited Technical Associate qualification. This was followed by a six-week work placement with one of the participating companies.
Hosting the ceremony in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, the Employment and Learning Minister Stephen Farry congratulated the graduates on completing the academy.
“The Academy model has now been in existence for a number of years and has proved very successful,” the minister said.
“It is now being offered in a number of areas, including Software Testing and Data Analytics, with 96% of graduate’s entering employment.
“We have a vast wealth of skills and qualifications amongst those who are currently out of work and the academy model is an effective way of harnessing those skills to grow our local economy.”
The ceremony was attended by the academy trainees, their guests, and representatives of Belfast Met and participating employers.
Assistant chief executive and director of curriculum at Belfast Met, Justin Edwards said: “The college plays a vital role in designing and delivering IT Academy programmes that equip recent graduates with the skills which are in high demand for dynamic roles in our burgeoning IT sector.
“Our approach to fostering technology talent through IT academies such as this Cloud Academy is complementary to the college’s core offering of further education, higher education and our professional courses which are currently enrolling for a September start.”
Darren Lemon, from Eircom NI — one of the employers who participated in the pilot — added: “At Eircom we feel it is important to embrace projects like the Cloud Academy that bridge the gap between education and employment.
“These not only offer young people an introduction to a career in a technology- led environment but also help us to ‘grow our own’ engineers and to equip young people with the blend of skills required to succeed in the world of ICT.”
Meanwhile, additional funding will made available to support Masters Courses at the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast.
Between them, the universities have received funding to provide 90 scholarships across a range of courses.
The minister said: “This investment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) postgraduate courses will help improve the skills of our graduates to meet the needs of local employers and support economic growth.
“I have been working closely with employers, colleges and universities to address the skill needs of our economy.
“These scholarships, worth £400,000, provide an excellent opportunity for people to gain the skills sought by employers in these areas.”