Four students are taking advantage of the opportunity to develop their computer technology skills this term, thanks to a partnership involving the Ministry of Education, University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) and the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre (CIFEC).

(From left) Deanna Connor, Kevin Dixon and Shirley Rivers meet with the Ministry’s Junior Support Administrator Kevin Winton (standing), who is supervising their internship. It includes personal computer setup, basic computing and PC repair.

Deanna and Shirley are pursuing the CIFEC information technology option, while Ricardo and Ricardo Roach (not pictured) are completing bachelor degrees in computer science at UCCI.

Winton was once in their shoes – he also interned at the Ministry before being hired full-time three years ago.

“UCCI is extremely grateful to the many organisations on the island, especially the Ministry of Education, for their support of our internship program,” noted Dr. Kwabena Asamoah, UCCI’s IT internship coordinator.

“Over the years, the IT wing of the education department has embraced the majority of our computer science interns and provided them with the internship training they need.”

Explaining the main objectives of the internship programme, Ministry ICT Manager Steven Durksen said it allows students to gain valuable practical experience related to their academic field, while enabling employers to maintain close ties with the relevant academic departments. It also gives companies an opportunity to evaluate and train student interns as prospective full-time employees.