"Last year saw many fresh Microsoft certified engineers finding jobs soon after the completion of the course. There are many more requests from the corporate world which we are unable to cater to.!", said an executive from Net Assist International, the Microsoft award winning learning partner of 2010.
Many academia and professionals agree that our universities do not produces employable, academically qualified candidates and the progress in resolving this issue is quite slow.

Recently in India, few institutes proposed a combination of academic and professional qualifications so that those who pass out of the universities are industry ready. Similar concepts are implemented here in Sri Lanka where university students reading for management degrees, follow professional certifications such as CIMA / Charted while following the university courses and get employed soon after their graduation. Superimposed on to this problem is the lack of adequate capacity in the state and private universities.

NetAssist International is a Gold Certified Partner of Microsoft and Oracle in Sri Lanka and is affiliated with Edexcel International, UK's largest awarding body offering academic and vocational qualifications in over 100 countries worldwide including Sri Lanka. They have come up with a model which could deliver both academic and professional qualification in Software Development and Networking Technologies.
While Edexcel's Higher National Diploma (HND -UK ) Programmes enable lateral entry to the UK universities in the 3rd year, the Vender Certifications such as Microsoft, Oracle JAVA, MySQL , CCNA, CompTIA, Linux enables the students to be industry ready by the second year. This helps them to work while studying in UK / Sri Lanka and reduce the financial burden on the parents.

• Equal to 2 years of a UK (Hon) Degree
• Professional and academic qualification combined in the curriculum
• UK qualification
• Lateral entry to the final year of 100+ universities worldwide
• Degree completion in Sri Lanka for those who do not want to travel to UK.
• Leads to Microsoft Oracle Mysql, JAVA, Linux, CCNA ,CompTIA Certification
• Original course materials, certificates and CDs from Microsoft, Oracle University
• Leads to world renowned professional qualifications from Microsoft Oracle & Cisco.

HND (Higher National Diploma) in ICT System Support and HND in Software Development
The HND is an 18 month academic programme (at Net Assist it is a 24 month programme to cover up the Professional certification). HND can be completed either on weekdays or weekend basis, thereby giving the student a valuable qualification that is equivalent to the first two years of a three year British B.Sc (Hon) Degree.

Students can then follow one more year of studies to top up their qualification with a B.Sc (Hons) Degree from prestigious UK Universities such as Universities of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Huddersfield, Northampton, Oxford Brookes, Plymouth, Salford and many more.

Acceptance to a university programme is at the discretion of the individual university. These UK universities have confirmed that they will give final year entry (Year 3) to BTEC HND students who have studied Business, Computing or Engineering subjects.

Entry level, for professional and academic qualifications together
Entry level flexibility allows A/Level students to complete either HND ICT System Support or HND Software Development.

The students who are opting to enter HND Software Development will learn C#, VB.Net, programming on Visual Studio 2008/2010, Oracle JAVA, MySQL Databases and will be able to get MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) along with OCJP (Oracle Java Certified Java Programmer), OCMA (Oracle Certified MySQL Associate Certifications).

The students who are opting for HND ICT Systems Support would cover Introduction to Network A+ and Network +, Windows 7 , Windows Server 2008 and Network Infrastructure, Active Directory Services, ISA ,Security and along with CCNA and Novell Certified SUSE Linux, MySQL Databases. (MCITP- Server 2008)

All the students will be eligible to sit for online exams through Prometric Testing Centre and VUE.
The training is carried out by Microsoft Certified Trainers, industry specialist and foreign lecturers. The training materials, Books and CDs are designed and delivered by Microsoft USA whereby training in Sri Lanka is equal to what is delivered and taught in USA. In addition, the student will be also be given soft skills training throughout the course and practical training during their placements.
NetAssist enables the local students to learn the foreign accredited courses at 1/20th the price of the same course in UK or USA. Students are provided access to online exams on par with students sitting the same exams in USA and Europe.

Many of "NetAssist trained" professionals are working as professionals and consultants for many IT companies including the multinational companies such as IBM, Microsoft, CISCO, HP and CITI Bank, Ernst & Young etc.

Value of Microsoft Certifications
Earning a certification from an internationally recognized provider creates lifelong opportunities to fill an estimated eight million IT jobs around the world. Students and Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) can now get college credit by earning a Microsoft Certification. The American Council on Education (ACE) has recommended college credit for several Microsoft Certifications.

Recent survey says 55% of IT Hiring Manager considers employees certifications as a criteria for hiring. 46% of Hiring managers consider employee certification as criteria for promotions. 43% of individuals reported salary increase as a result of Microsoft Certifications.

Microsoft, Oracle, Linux, CompTIA, CISCO Certification courses bridge the information gap about the demand and supply of the IT professionals in ICT industry in the country. For more Information visit www.netassist.com.lk.