Government of Jordan Seeks to Improve National Digital Literacy Levels Through Increased Access to ICDL
12 April 2012
The government is planning to implement a series of initiatives to provide Jordanians with the opportunity to obtain ICDL certification, a senior official said at a seminar, Tuesday, 10 April.
"The government is keen on fostering the culture of computers and educating the citizens on the use of computers as part of its vision to integrate ICT into society," Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Mr. Bassem Roussan, said at a seminar on Tuesday to launch two additional ICDL modules in Jordan: ICDL Module 9 – Image Editing, and ICDL Module 12 – IT Security.
The government also intends to go ahead with initiatives to enable civil servants to obtain the certification by providing them with advanced training.
The minister highlighted the key role the ICT sector plays in enhancing the country's economy and in improving the living conditions of Jordanians. The sector contributes about 14 per cent to the country's annual gross domestic product, according to the ICT Association of Jordan (int@j).
According to Minister Roussan, about 180,000 Jordanians have registered to take ICDL training programmes over the past 10 years, and about 110,000 have completed the training and received ICDL certificates - 61 per cent of whom were women. "These are positive indicators for Jordan," the minister said, adding that the number of Jordanians holding ICDL certificates is higher than in many European countries.
He noted that the number of accredited centres providing ICDL certificates in Jordan rose from 10 in the year 2001, to 110 in 2012.
Representatives from ECDL Foundation, SARL Technology Company, universities, the Jordan Armed Forces, training centres, private schools, and other entities attended the seminar.
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