College joins forces with leading global ICT provider

South Essex College has officially been announced as a ‘Huawei ICT Academy’, providing a welcome boost to its ICT provision.

College representatives were invited to the World Skills UK event in Birmingham for the official launch ceremony. Sarah Lane, Vice Principal Curriculum & Quality, met with Huawei dignitaries at the event to mark the beginning of this exciting partnership.

Students also took advantage of the event by speaking to national and global companies relevant to their studies and also find out about career progression opportunities.

The Huawei ICT Academy is a global educational programme and talent Eco-system developed by Huawei, the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, having overtaken Ericsson in 2012.

Students have also been encouraged to take part in Huawei’s ICT Skills Competition, a global contest against students from all around the world. So far 42 students from the College have entered which will give them the opportunity to further boost their skills.

The students will showcase their ICT skills and knowledge in a series of online challenges with the highest scoring students from around the country being entered into the Western Europe finals. Winners in the regional final will then have the opportunity to progress to the global finals in China.

ICT Programme Leader, Rathi Raman, said becoming a Huawei Academy was a fantastic opportunity.

She said: “Working with a global company such as Huawei is a real boost to our ICT provision at South Essex College. It will allow us to benefit from the expertise of a company which is working at the forefront of this fast paced and ever changing industry.

“The competition is also a great opportunity for our students to explore the latest technologies and to understand the latest industry trends. This will give them more comprehensive and in-depth understanding on the technological world of today and tomorrow.”

The College is now able to offer a new course thanks to the partnership with Huawei. The Huawei Routing and Switching Course for adults will enable students to develop skills in network fundamentals, basic connection methods of popular networks, basic network construction, troubleshooting of common network faults and installation and commissioning of Huawei routing and switching devices. Those completing the course will gain HCNA Routing and Switching Certification.

For more information about the course, please visit www.southessex.ac.uk/course/huawei-certified-network-associate-hcna