The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) has launched a new language training initiative to support higher education students in Upper Egypt to master the German language.
The programme, which aims to attract more business process outsourcing companies to Egypt, was set up by ITIDA in cooperation with Goethe-Institut in Cairo.
The agency has already announced the programme’s pilot phase, which will be implemented with the South Valley University, to train 100 students from the second and third academic years.
ITIDA CEO Amr Mahfouz said, “The programme serves our strategic pillar of building the Egyptian citizen, where ITIDA is currently focusing on expanding its language training programmes, especially the English, German, and French languages, to qualify young learners for the global business services market, thus creating a wide base of competitive Egyptian workers in ICT related specialisations.”
He added that the programme is designed to increase the competitiveness of Upper Egypt’s governorates in the offshoring and call centre services. This is set to take place through continuously training students and equipping them with in-demand skills, and to build and maintain a talent pool.
As part of its role, the programme will lure international companies to invest in these governorates, which will provide many job opportunities for young people, Mahfouz added.
The courses are scheduled to commence during this summer vacation via integrated online learning and will help improve language learners’ level from the beginner’s (A1) to the advanced level (B2).
The Goethe-Institut in Cairo will provide scientific and linguistic lecturers based on the educational requirements of each level of the three levels offered by the programme.
The students will get a certificate upon the conclusion of each course level, as well as a detailed record of grades from the Goethe-Institut in Cairo. Besides this, graduates will be linked to job opportunities available in global delivery centres, which offer not less than EGP10,000 as an average monthly salary.
The programme is funded mainly by the ITIDA, where students pay a contribution percentage, as per their previous academic year’s grade (GPA) before applying.
