First Sun Microsystems academic lab opens in Jordan

Jubilee School will be the first educational establishment below higher educational level to be home to a Sun Academy. This initiative is in concord with the Jubilee School's strategy since its establishment in 1993, to employ the latest technology and communication tools to prepare Jordanian youth for universal challenges.

The Sun Microsystems laboratories, which are set to open throughout Jordan and the rest of the Middle East, are designed to teach and train youth on the intricacies of technology, and fully support the development of a new generation of Arab information and communications technology (ICT) professionals.

"Technology can offer new mechanisms to serve the values of peace by broadening the perspective of our youth, thus enabling them to think differently and more globally," said Her Majesty, Queen Noor of Jordan, during her tour to the Sun Microsystems, Electronic and Robotic labs at the School. "The resources and skills that students will learn at the Sun Microsystems labs are invaluable and imperative if they want to compete effectively in today's global economy."

Sun's regional management believes that this initial phase of collaboration may encourage the King Hussein Foundation and other academic institutions to foster additional research and training opportunities for students at every level in Jordan's schooling system.

"Jubilee is the first school in the region to house a Sun lab, with students as young as 14 now being able to access the latest 21st century technological innovations and ideas courtesy of Sun," said Tarek Ayass, education and research regional manager, Sun Microsystems Middle East and North Africa.

"By targeting school-going children, Sun Microsystems is keen to create a pool of regional IT talent and ensure that students are armed with enough Java knowledge to stand them in good stead at university and beyond,"

he added.