A major IT training body is warning of non-approved centres across the region that are falsely claiming to be authorised to offer its programme and that are even issuing fake
certificates for the students they have trained.
The ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body and certification authority of the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) programme (as featured in SMB Focus previously), said it regularly receives complaints of such non-approved centres running its courses.
ICDL is an internationally recognised computer proficiency standard that is owned by the European Computer Driving License Foundation. It is based on one standard exam, offered in many languages including Arabic, and has been adopted by many organisations and companies across the region.
The ICDL GCC Foundation warned that students attending non-approved centres may not be trained to the proper ICDL standards and that these centres are issuing certificates not recognised by potential employers and educational institutions.
Another consequence of these non-approved centres is that they are taking business away from legitimate approved centres by offering cheaper courses to students.
Students can only take the ICDL exam at an approved centre as it is in an automated online format that is not available elsewhere.
Windows’ sister publication, IT Weekly, spoke to one Dubai-based training centre, International Learning Solutions (ILS) and the New Horizons company which runs 40 training centres in the region, including two in the UAE.
Both firms said they had come across high numbers of students who have trained on non-approved courses before taking the exam at their centres and that they are losing business as a result of the situation.
Official ICDL approved centres charge anywhere between US$300 to US$500-plus for students to take the ICDL training course.
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