ICDL AutoTest launched in Arabic

In a related development, the Jordanian Ministry of Education has recently launched a massive campaign for the certification of around 40,000 of its practicing teachers in basic computer skills in accordance with the ICDL programme. The certification programme will be facilitated through the automated tests developed by Electric Paper, the company announced today.

The ICDL is seen as a cornerstone of Jordan's national development strategy, which aims to stimulate economic and social development by transforming the Kingdom into a technology-driven economy. As IT proficient teachers are a necessary pre-requisite for this programme, all teacher promotions in Jordan have been linked to attainment of the qualification.

According to Dr Amr Azzouz, ICDL Director, UNESCO Cairo Office (UCO): "The launch of Electric Paper's AutoTest in Arabic marks a significant date for ICDL in the region. The ICDL certification continues to grow across the Arab states and illustrates the determination of Arab governments to grow IT literacy in their respective territories. UCO is hopeful that Electric Paper's Arabised test will further this growth and will result in a pan-Arabic population with greatly improved IT skills".

According to Jonny Parkes, Electric Paper's managing director, "We are delighted to be working closely with the UCO in providing an Arabised automated testing system which supports the ICDL programme and are committed to help achieve the goal of bringing a cost effective, internationally recognised IT certification to people in the Arab region. With the launch of the Arabic version underway, we will continue to work with the UCO and its Local Business Promoters to market the ICDL concept in the region."

The ICDL is the world's leading IT skills certification programme and is currently held or being studied by an estimated three million people around the world. AutoTest plays a key role in this as it reduces the overall administration time and costs associated with manual marking.

The programme is administered on a global basis by the ECDL Foundation (ECDL-F), a not-for-profit organization whose role it is to promote, develop and certify computer skills and IT knowledge.

The ICDL syllabus is designed to cover the key concepts of computing, its practical applications and their use in the workplace and society. It allows everyone to document their acquired knowledge and skills through a series of performance-based tests administered at a growing network of training and test centres around the world.

No prior knowledge of IT or computer skills is needed to study for the ICDL.

The syllabus is broken down into seven modules, each of which must be passed before the ICDL certificate is awarded. The modules include: basic concepts of IT, using the computer and managing files, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations and information and communications. The official tests can be undertaken at accredited test centres across the Arab States Region in both Arabic and English.