Ten out of 125 Barbadians who successfully completed the Cyber Nations Training Initiative have already signed contracts with international companies, and more graduates are expected to be recruited in the coming weeks.
Speaking at the first cohort Cyber Nations Training Initiative Graduation ceremony at the Hilton Hotel on Saturday, Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training Kay McConney announced that close to 96 per cent out of the 141 students who started the course in January successfully completed it.
“Barbados facilitated access and funding, and I want to tell you that last night, before midnight, ten of the persons in here signed their contracts for jobs. And over the coming months, our Canadian partners will be working assiduously to complete the placements of all the students who have successfully completed this journey,” McConney said.
The four-month course provided students with fundamental knowledge and skills of Cyber Security with a focus on how to protect data and business operations against cyber threats.
The course examined cyber security frameworks and standards and threat landscapes and provided the tools, tactics, and procedures to protect people and businesses from the devastating impact of cybercrime.
It was delivered via the hybrid flexible modality through the use of interactive online lectures, online discussions, and practical demonstrations.
Congratulating the graduates, McConney told them that they were not experts in cyber security since the program was intended to give them the basic entry-level knowledge and skills to allow them to get their foot in the door of a new opportunity.
McConney recalled that she met with the participants during the course when many of them lamented that they had to make significant sacrifices, as the training was intense, with many assignments to be completed.
“When I spoke to you in January, I said to you that you were pioneers because this was the first time we were doing a programme like this in Barbados. And many of you were pioneers not just in terms of the programme, but some of you were stuck in your own lives, not sure where to go next, and this was a pioneering effort for you in finding a new opportunity in a space you would have never imagined.
“For some of you who are actually making career shifts because of the training you have had, you would see that you are graduating to new opportunities, and I ask that you continue to hold the faith in yourselves first and in this programme to be able to deliver all that it had intended to deliver for all of you,” McConney said.
The accredited Cyber Nations is a Coalition of Leaders working together to educate and employ 100 000 African, Caribbean and Canadian learners within the global cybersecurity industry. (AH)
Read our ePaper. Fast. Factual. Free.
Sign up and stay up to date with Barbados' FREE latest news.
Barbados Today firmly discourages any commentary or statements that are libelous, disruptive in nature or incites others to violate our Terms of Use. Any submissions made on our comment section, are solely the views of the individual and not Barbados Today.