True to its word of creating "New Value Together, Win Together," Huawei Philippines has recently recognized the significant contributions and exemplary performance of its industry and academic partners, conferring the ICT Talent Partner of the Year 2020 award to STI College, which has the highest number of students passing the Huawei certifications offered by Huawei ICT Academy.

As a tech-driven educational institution with a large network of schools in the Philippines, STI College understands the difficulties faced by students who are pursuing ICT-related courses. Despite the increased adoption and use of digital technologies in the country, digitalization efforts in the education sector remain impacted by the broadband penetration and access to advanced technologies. Students often fall short of meeting the industry's talent requirements, struggling to acquire up-to-date knowledge and credentials, such as virtual training and certification.

STI College took on the challenge by nurturing students to become job-ready, future-ready and life-ready. To achieve this, STI introduced its Enrollment to Employment System, wherein students get applicable education, job market skills, job preparedness, and job placement assistance.

The first step is the Learning Systems Development, which ensures that the curriculum content is up-to-date and job market-oriented. To complement this, STI implements the Academic Delivery System to guarantee that highly-qualified and certified faculty members, and state-of-the-art facilities of campuses are at par with the standardized courseware and curriculum. STI integrates in-demand ICT technologies into its courseware materials to prepare students for their dream careers.

The third step, Student Certification, assures that students are prepared for employment through rigid assessment, evaluation, and certificate programs. Before the students leave the security of their four-walled classrooms, they are given the opportunity to undergo on-the-job training with STI's reputable partner companies.

With its partnership with Huawei ICT Academy, STI College delivers Huawei ICT technologies training, encourages students to get Huawei certifications, and develops talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and the community. Huawei helps STI College integrate in-demand ICT technologies into its programs to better prepare the students for future certifications. The Academy offers more than 100 certification exams and 22 technical fields to pave clear the career development paths for STI students.

STI College has so far produced 299 students certified in five technology domains: cloud computing, Big Data, artificial intelligence, routing and switching, and storage. Huawei ensures that its courses match the needs of the ICT industry in general and its partner enterprises in particular to guarantee employment for students.

An industry certification validates the skills and readiness of the students to join the ICT workforce. Every certification is valid for three years, and the students' names appear on Huawei's online database as Huawei Certified ICT Associates (HCIA). This improves students' competitiveness in the job market as well as schools' employment rate.

Regine Gila Cabeltes, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering graduate of STI College, realized the benefits of being Huawei-certified soon after she finished her course.

"Being a Huawei Certified ICT Associate made it easier for me to land the job I aspired. The technologies covered in the HCIA courses are prevalent in the company where I work. When I was answering the technical questions during my job interview, it was like answering a certification exam," said Cabeltes.

Prof. Beronika Peña, STI College's ICT and Engineering Courseware Development Head, is one of the teachers at Huawei ICT Academy. Peña received an Excellent Instructor with a Level A Award from the Academy in 2020.

"We are grateful to be an ICT Academy. Huawei has provided us the means to promote ICT talent development to our teachers and students. Through this partnership, we look forward to producing more competent and industry-ready graduates," she said.

Establishing one's career in today's competitive industries has become a challenging pursuit to most job seekers. Employers, too, are increasingly having difficulty finding the right person for the job. Too often, there remains a huge gap between the skills required by the industry and what a graduate has to offer.

Given the current state of ICT talent development in the Philippines, Huawei ICT Academy and STI College have committed to equipping Filipino students with the needed knowledge and skills to prepare them for their future career in the ICT industry. In the long term, the partnership aims to bridge the gap in talent supply and demand toward the sustainable development of the Philippine ICT industry, said Mr. Todd Liu, President of Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Philippines.