US students get IT training

Randy Dorn, Washington state superintendent of public instruction, along with officials from Microsoft, announced the formal opening of the state-wide OSPI-Microsoft IT Academy programme, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Microsoft IT Academy will be available to staff and students in more than 700 public high schools, skills centres and tribal schools across Washington state, making the deployment the largest state-wide Microsoft IT Academy programme.

The programme provides technology education to students and teachers, from computer basics to high-level programming, says The Washington Post.

Officials say the programme will be implemented in phases, and will start with 30 high schools and nine regional career and technical education centres this autumn. All high schools are intended to participate by the end of the school year.

Training and certification will be available for Microsoft software products, as well as computer programming, Web development and database development, reports Bloomberg Business Week.