Study: About 50% Of IT Departments’ Graduates Have No Intention To W

STUDY: ABOUT 50% OF IT DEPARTMENTS’ GRADUATES HAVE NO INTENTION TO WORK IN THIS AREA

/ARKA/
September 16, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 16. /ARKA/. About 50% of IT departments’ graduates
have no intention to work in this area, and 50% of the remaining
graduates can’t find jobs here because of unfit qualification, Bagrat
Yengibaryan, director of Enterprise Incubator Foundation, said Saturday
at an informal meeting of leaders of IT sector, presenting the results
of the study conducted by the foundation.

Only 25% of the funds spent for IT sector’s needs come back, and this
is a grave problem, since specialists are in demand in Armenia.

Yengibaryan said that many work here without necessary higher
education.

He thinks a dialogue between the economy and education sector is
needed.

"Various education models are being worked out, and we try to spur
cooperation among various agencies with them."

Under such circumstances, many companies have to invest money in
training.

"Studies show that not only Armenia, but also the United States and
India face a similar problem. Many specialists work in this area
only after retraining. However, our problem is not only additional
expenses, but also secondary schools, which could train specialists",
Yengibaryan said.

He singled out Synopsis-based IT department of State Engineering
University of Armenia as cooperation model.

Yengibaryan also pointed out Sun Micro systems, who created own system
for training specialists and improving knowledge to due criteria. The
Company cooperates with Yerevan State University, State Engineering
University of Armenia and Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University.

Said that IT specialists mainly work in Yerevan, the director of
Enterprise Incubator Foundation stressed the necessity to establish
training centers in provinces.

He said IT center in Gyumri and 3D laboratory are successfully
training specialists.

"These various models are first steps, taken in an effort to spur
cooperation, but universities should set a clear objective – to train
specialists, and the private sector should offer support to them to
solve the problem with joint efforts."

Yengibaryan said the government should be interested in supporting
cooperation.

"Not only information technologies, but also other education segments
face this problem. I wonder why some strategy has not been worked
out, since universities educating students receive no support from
the government in employing them. As a result, everybody do own job,
but all are unhappy about each other", he said.