IBM 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.
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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.
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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.