ICDL Saudi Arabia to launch Kingdom's first ICDL-accredited international certification for IT trainers

Certified Training Professional program adopts stringent certification process to ensure consistently high level of quality in IT training nationwide

February, 2009
ICDL Saudi Arabia, the governing body and certification authority of the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) programme in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has announced that it is poised to launch the Certified Training Professional (CTP) program, an international qualification in IT training that serves as one of ICDL Foundation's non end-user certifications. The new program is in line with ICDL's efforts to complement the aggressive IT expenditure in Saudi Arabia, which reached an estimated USD 3.4 billion in 2007, by promoting best practice and consistently high standards in the provision of classroom-based IT training through ICDL's comprehensive network of training centres.

Unlike the traditional practice of conducting exams, CTP adopts a system called the Trainer Evidence Record, a stringent certification process wherein candidates are required to provide "evidence" that they satisfy the skills and knowledge requirements of the program. Evidence can be classified as documentary and performance; documentary evidence includes training plans, session plans, analysis forms and evaluation forms; while performance evidence is a video of a candidate's training delivery, which will allow ICDL to better evaluate core skills including communication, instruction, questioning and feedback.

Dr. Sulaiman Al-Dhalaan, Managing Director, ICDL Saudi Arabia said: "It is our policy to constantly identify areas that need to be improved to ensure consistently high standards in the delivery of ICDL-accredited IT training to end-users. In this regard, ICDL Saudi Arabia is now finalising the launch of the Certified Training Professional program, which will enable us to have better control over the provision of classroom-based IT training. Although training manuals and other ICDL courseware undergo a strict approval process, the manner in which training is conducted in different accredited centres is beyond our control. With this new program, ICDL candidates can now be certain that ICDL-accredited training centres are manned by highly competent CTP-certified IT trainers."

"We also believe that CTP will come as a significant career-enhancing tool for IT trainers as obtaining CTP certification will certainly open more career development prospects and job opportunities for them. Moreover, CTP will help strengthen and develop the community of IT trainers and boost the quality of training nationwide. This is a crucial step in consolidating the Kingdom's initiatives and significant investments to establish a digital society," added Dr. Al-Dhalaan.

Suitable for both trainers and organisations, the CTP certification is independent of prior qualifications as it requires candidates to provide actual demonstration of their competency. Furthermore, CTP provides trainers and training organisations with an objective quality standard that will serve as a benchmark for their own training services.

In addition, CTP has also been developed to recognise and certify best practice on the part of individual trainers, while allowing training providers to be distinguished based on the quality of their services and training delivery. The program is appropriate for candidates who have at least a three-year experience in delivering ICDL/IT training, including course design, preparation of training plans and course evaluation.

CTP joins ICDL Saudi Arabia's new initiatives being rolled out in 2009 as part of its strategy to support the Saudi Government's massive IT investments. In 2007 alone, the Saudi Government's IT expenditure, which accounted for nearly 1 per cent of the national GDP, supported more than 6,600 IT companies and nearly 41,300 IT industry employees, and helped generate USD190 million in IT-related taxes.

ICDL is a vendor-neutral digital literacy program that is acknowledged through testing and proves that the certificate holder has fundamental skills in IT, using the computer, managing files, word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, and handling of the Internet and e-mail. The ICDL certificate is recognized and endorsed by education ministries, universities and government organisations with accreditations from over 168 countries and available in more than 40 languages.