Classes Start in March at Internet Training Center in Togo

23 January 2011

Internet users at a cyber cafe in Somalia

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

A new Internet training center in Togo will give young people in that part of West Africa a chance to improve their job skills.

The International Telecommunication Union and the computer-networking company Cisco Systems launched the center. A telecom company in Lome is also taking part in the effort.

Robert Shaw of the ITU says students will learn the basics of what he calls the "real plumbing of the Internet."

ROBERT SHAW: "Internet protocol-based networks, they're almost behind everything we do. They run the financial systems. They might be controlling the power systems. So either directly or indirectly we're dependent upon these systems. And there's a lot of pressure to have trained people."

This month, five instructors completed two weeks of intensive training known as the Cisco Certified Networking Academy. They also learned how to train others. Robert Shaw says this kind of train-the-trainer program helps meet a growing demand for professionals in information and communication technologies, or ICT.

ROBERT SHAW: "The Internet and these networks are growing so fast, it's really hard to keep up. It's a bit like what they said in 'Alice in Wonderland': you have to run twice as fast just to stay in the same place. And the rate of change means it's very difficult for the classical educational programs to keep up with the demand that's out there in the marketplace."