On Thursday December 20th, 2007, we inauguratedthe AirJaldi Network Academy, located at the Upper TCV School Campus, Dharamsala.
Our Academy, the only certified Cisco Networking Academy in Himachal Pradesh open to the public, will offer a range of practical courses on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with a specific focus on building and operating wireless Internet networks in rural areas. The chief guest, Mr. Tsewang Yeshi, President, TCV Schools, inaugurated the academy classroom. We followed with a short presentation and mingling and were soon back to preparing the first class of 15 students, which began today.

Mr. Tsweng Yeshi (L),President, TCV, at the inaugration

Members of the Airjaldi team members on the stairs of the AirJaldi Academy Classroom

The AirJaldi Academy is central to our work and our emphasis on bridging gaps and opening opportunities. By providing people with the knowledge and ability to build bridges between technologies and local realities, we are ensuring that initiatives to provide broadband connectivity to rural communities could be supported and managed by local talents who are best positioned to respond to the need of their communities while maintaining a viable operation. Located at one of the highest (and most scenic) points in the Dharamsala area – the TCV village, our first campus will be open to all those who wish to gain the knowledge and skills that enables them and their communities to benefit from the immense potential of connectivity in all areas of life

We are proud to be a certified and accredited member of the world-renowned Cisco Networking Academy system. In fact, ours is the only certified Cisco Networking academy open to the public in Himachal.

The first courses we offer are Cisco’s ‘IT Essentials: PC Hardware and Software - covering the essentials of computer hardware and software and troubleshooting, and IT Essentials II: Network Operating Systems. In the near future, we plan an additional offering, the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) course, with its world-acclaimed and recognized industry standard certificate.

Our curriculum will however not be limited to these excellent courses alone. We intend to develop our own curriculum, based on our experience and knowledge of building affordable and viable networks for rural areas in developing countries. We will also cooperate with other content providers in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and ICT4D (ICT for Development) spheres – through hosted workshops, courses and conferences.

Our first two courses are pre-booked for teachers and IT professionals from schools and institutions around Dharamsala.

We expect to offer our first courses to the public around the second week of February – check the website for more updates!

Salutations, Tashidelek, Namaste, Mubarak ho, Mazal Tov!