Kabul Polytechnic University in Kabul, Afghanistan recently graduated its first cohort of the Internet Technology associate degree program, one that saw significant instructional contributions from Central Georgia Technical College Computer Technology faculty and staff.

“We are particularly proud to make possible the graduation of Kabul Polytechnic University’s first cohort of students in its two-year associate degree Information Technology program,” said Rick Hutto, the director for Global Initiatives at CGTC. “Our faculty members have gone far beyond what they are usually called to do, including Skype calls at night because of the time difference, and have every reason to think of these new graduates as their own students.

CGTC’s partnership with KPU began in 2015, when the University of Massachusetts selected the College, after a highly competitive bidding process, to become one of two two-year colleges in the United States to serve as a sub-contractor for the United States Agency for International Development multi-million dollar grant to build the educational system in war-torn Afghanistan.

KPU has extended their appreciation to the College in a letter from KPU’s chancellor. A certificate of appreciation is soon to follow.

In March, CGTC Computer Technology program division head, Bridget Willis, instructor, Felicia Everidge, and executive vice president Jeff Scruggs, traveled to Baku, Azerbaijan, to work face-to-face with KPU and its faculty on curriculum for the two-year IT degree.

Faculty from both institutions met in Azerbaijan as a mutually accepted training location. In the two years between CGTC’s selection and its trip, groundwork had been laid to assess technologies at KPU. After an initial on-site technology inventory in Kabul more than a year ago, CGTC has been mentoring faculty and delivering videotaped classroom presentations for KPU review and utilization.

Hutto said then that the delivery of this curriculum, “will be of maximum benefit to their students and to Afghanistan’s employers.”

Figures from KPU indicate that 40 percent of the students who graduated already had jobs lined up.

 “As we enter the third year of our contract, CGTC will continue to provide appropriate curricula and to develop and evaluate content that is aligned with labor market skill needs,” Hutto said.