ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE:
IBM) today announced that P-TECH, a groundbreaking public education
model to strengthen education equity and career development
opportunities in primarily underserved communities, is now in 28
countries and regions. China is
the most recent country to adopt the model, bringing the total of
countries so far with P-TECH schools to 28. IBM also added Italian,
Korean, Polish, and Turkish languages to the free Open P-TECH
online career readiness platform, making technology and
professional competencies more accessible to even more young people
around the world.
Especially when socioeconomic disparities are exacerbated by the
pandemic, P-TECH provides students with a pathway to college and
career by enabling students to graduate with high school diplomas,
no-cost college associates degrees aligned to industry needs, and
workplace experiences, including paid mentorship and internships.
Together, the private and public sectors adjust training and
education practices to prioritize pathways and skills that allow
people to access today's most in-demand jobs.
The first P-TECH school opened in Brooklyn, NY, in 2011 with IBM as its industry
partner, in collaboration with New York
City Public Schools and The City
University of New York. There are now more than 240 P-TECH
schools in operation, working with nearly 200 community colleges
and more than 600 industry partners, including GLOBALFOUNDRIES,
Thomson Reuters, Volkswagen and others. The industry partnerships
are crucial in the P-TECH model to bring insight into the skills
and qualities needed in prospective employees and also to foster
those skills and qualities in students.
The P-TECH model helps to strengthen regional economies and
underserved populations with a workforce better prepared for "new
collar" jobs -- highly skilled and fast growing careers in areas
like cybersecurity, design, mainframe administration and more that
don't require traditional college degrees.
P-TECH is proving effective. For example, in the U.S.
alone:
- Initial graduates earned associates degrees four times faster
than the on-time national community college graduation rate.
- Student populations in IBM P-TECH schools are at least 40%
young women and 90% African American or Hispanic. These
numbers will help diversify the tech industry and spur innovation
with more inclusive economic growth.
- Interim MDRC study results show that the first seven
New York City's P-TECH schools are
increasing the number of CTE credits that students earn without
sacrificing other academic coursework.
"P-TECH responds to one of the greatest needs of every country:
to bridge the gap between schools and work in ways that promote
education equity," said Grace Suh,
IBM Vice President of Education. "These solid public-private
partnerships around the globe help create a long-term socioeconomic
shift and new vision to build a more inclusive and innovative
society."
"P-TECH generates excitement about career opportunities in
advanced manufacturing. The model forges important partnerships
that bring industry and education closer together," said
Tara McCaughey, Lead, Education and
Workforce Development, GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "GF is proud to be an
industry partner to four P-TECHs in the New York State's Hudson Valley and Greater Capital District
regions, providing an important opportunity to talk to students
about professional skills and participate in panel discussions
about the advanced manufacturing field. The students that complete
P-TECH programs are a critical part of the next generation of
technicians, future engineers and leaders."
To bring some of the benefits of P-TECH schools to a broader
audience, IBM has also created Open P-TECH, a free digital learning
platform which extends important components of the P-TECH workplace
learning, professional and technical skills curriculum to learners
and teachers. More than 130,000 learners and teachers are making
use of the platform in more than 130 countries. It is now available
in Chinese, English, French, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese,
Spanish and Turkish languages.
For more information, please visit
https://newsroom.ibm.com/ibm-corporate-social-responsibility, or
https://www.ibm.org/initiatives/p-tech
Media Contact:
Katie Leasor
IBM External Relations
kleasor@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM