ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body of the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) programme in the Gulf region, has announced that Al Ain Educational Zone (AAEZ) has endorsed its ICDL programme for 6000 teachers and administrative staff. An accreditation agreement in this regard was signed recently between Saeed Rashid Al Nayadi, General Manager, AAEZ and Jamil Ezzo, Director General, ICDL GCC Foundation.
The agreement will now pave the way for AAEZ to provide in-house training and testing on the ICDL programme to its own teachers and administrative staff. This will enable AAEZ to work towards establishing a contemporary educational zone based on constructive leadership and effective partnership to create seats of learning excellence for the future generations.
Commenting on the ICDL implementation agreement, Saeed Rashid Al Nayadi, said, “Al Ain Educational Zone is always striving to adopt the highest standard of education across all its schools. Our endorsement of the ICDL programme is an integral part of our strategy to develop the IT skills of all educational and administrative human resources, which will in turn improve our standards of teaching and services. Al Ain Educational Zone is constantly engaging in partnerships with organisations such as the ICDL GCC Foundation, to improve our capabilities, resources and technologies for the benefit of our students.”
Jamil Ezzo said, “Al Ain Educational Zone and ICDL GCC Foundation have a common goal: to transform education by furthering digital literacy and promoting the use of technology in education. The endorsement of the ICDL programme by Al Ain Educational Zone marks another milestone in our undertaking to have our computer literacy programme embedded in the national as well as the regional educational systems.
“Educators undoubtedly play an essential role in the spread of digital literacy in our society. With the implementation of the ICDL IT literacy program in Al Ain Educational Zone, teachers will become more resourceful and empowered with access to the latest educational practices and domain content. Al Ain Educational Zone will be a valuable addition to the increasing government recognition for ICDL and to our network of ICDL approved centres”, Ezzo added.
ICDL certifies that the holder has knowledge of the essential concepts of IT and is able to use a personal computer and common computer applications at a recognised level of competence. The ICDL programme is open to everyone and it is designed in a manner to ensures inclusiveness and equal access to all people. ICDL GCC Foundation was created to manage the implementation of the ICDL programme in the Gulf States, and has since been working at different levels with policymakers to embed the ICDL programme as part of employee development program and integrate it the educational system.
International Computer Driving License (ICDL), is an internationally recognized computer proficiency standard that is owned by the European Computer Driving License Foundation (ECDL) and introduced by the UNESCO's Cairo Office (UCO) for Arab states in 2001, is gaining increasing acceptance in the Middle East, with several governments adopting and prescribing it to their employees. The ICDL programme exists in over 140 countries, and is offered in 36 languages, including Arabic. The programmes offered are all based on one standard syllabus and question set. There are more than 26,000 centres worldwide, above 5 million candidates, more than 1 million issued certificates and over 20 million exams have been taken globally since the launch of the programme year 1997.
About ICDL GCC Foundation
ICDL GCC Foundation was created by the ECDL Foundation, the not-for-profit global governing body of the ECDL and ICDL member countries dedicated to helping raise the general level of computer skills in societies and providing access for all to the information society, to serve the to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States with their implementation of ICDL and for providing them with localized support to ensure quality of ICDL programmes. The ICDL GCC Foundation is the sole accreditation body that is responsible to support ICDL accredited training and testing centers in the GCC. It also acts as the reviewing and approving body for the local adaptation of ICDL programmes.
