Jamiyah Halfway House (Darul Islah) held an ICDL Microsoft Office Certificate Presentation Ceremony on Saturday, 27August.
This is for the two batches of residents from Jamiyah Halfway House who graduated since the programme restarted this year. The last batch of residents graduated in June 2019, before the pandemic hit.
The course was conducted in the newly refurbished computer classroom at the halfway house. The Classroom officially opened in February 2022, and is part of the Computer Classroom Sponsorship Project, an initiative between Darul Islah, Yellow Ribbon Fund (YRF) and Acronis.
Acronis, through YRF, had sponsored $100,000 to the project - $50,000 for the renovation and upgrading of the computer classroom, including 15 new laptops. Another $50,000 are be used for IT training courses in 2022.
YRF and Acronis have a shared vision of developing a computer classroom that can support regular IT training for the residents of Darul Islah. Both stakeholders saw the value in equipping the residents with IT skills as it will open more opportunities for them and allow them to secure better jobs.
The collaboration between Darul Islah, Acronis & Yellow Ribbon Fund started in 2018 when they conducted the ICDL Microsoft Skills Course for the residents. The residents were awarded Microsoft Certified Certificates upon the completion of the course.
The first IT training in the new classroom was conducted for 1 week from 10 February to 17 February 2022. 15 residents participated in the course with a 100% pass. All secured employment after the course. 6 of the residents have completed the rehabilitation programme, while 3 are still undergoing it. The other 6 did not complete the rehabilitation programme at the halfway house.
For the second batch conducted on 26 May to 3 June 2022, another 15 residents took part with a 100% pass. All of them are gainfully employed and are still undergoing the rehabilitation programme.
All those who have completed the ICDL Microsoft Office Course are working full-time with salaries ranging from $1,450 to $2,600.
Dr Isa Hassan, Chairman of Darul Islah said: "At Jamiyah Halfway House, we equip offenders with relevant training to enhance their employability in a digitalized world to prepare them for successful reintegration and instill a culture of lifelong learning in our residents and facilitate their skills deepening in the community, even after release. Finding a job after recovery can help individuals build healthier relationships, provide for their families, and boost their self-esteem, which helps prevent relapse and maintain their long-term recovery."
Mr R, a Forklift Driver, completed his rehabilitation programme 2 months ago, on 29 May 2022. He was from the 1st batch of the ICDL Course held this year. After his release, he continued taking courses, upgraded himself, and managed to obtain a forklift license. The ICDL course helped him to improve his self-esteem and be more confident. He said: "The course motivated me, and I learnt to apply the skill at my workplace as a forklift driver where I need to key in all the items into the computer. This knowledge encourages me to keep upgrading my skills in computer usage."
Mr F attended and completed the IT course in June 2019. He currently works for Domino's Pizza and has received a good review from his supervisor. He also received the Best Employee Award in Feb 2020 from his employer. The course helped him in his job advancement. He said: "The ICDL course has given me better knowledge and skills for my work. I started as a part-time pizza maker and was promoted to store supervisor and now assistant restaurant manager. Of course, I feel happy and excited as this is a lifetime experience."
Mr Rosezeli Omar, a Jamiyah Halfway House Alumni, actively volunteers his time to support the aftercare programme for the beneficiaries upon completing his programme.
The aftercare programme had helped him greatly, especially through optimistic thinking and reasoning, engaging himself in contributing back to society. His advice to the residents of the Halfway House: "Set a goal in life on the things you want to achieve. Create a positive mindset, and don't stop whenever you are facing challenges in something you want to achieve. Always have the 'Don't give up' motto in life as the struggles you are in today are developing the strength you need for tomorrow."
The certificates were presented by Mr Vladimir Zatsepin, Acronis Vice President, Head of Singapore R&D.
Mr Stas Protassov, Acronis Co-Founder & President of Technology said: "Education, upskilling and lifelong learning are part of our DNA at Acronis. Our core belief is that knowledge should be available to all, and we are glad to resume the provision of IT skills training to ex-offenders, since the disruption caused by the pandemic. The YRF-Acronis IT Skills Programme, which has been launched 4 years ago, is also aligned with the government's push to upskill citizens. For a country like Singapore, every citizen matters and we're confident that given the opportunity to obtain new knowledge and skills, ex-offenders can contribute and reintegrate back into society."
About Acronis:
Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides natively integrated cybersecurity, data protection, and endpoint management for managed service providers (MSPs), small and medium businesses (SMBs), and enterprise IT departments. Acronis solutions are highly efficient and designed to identify, prevent, detect, respond, remediate, and recover from modern cyberthreats with minimal downtime, ensuring data integrity and business continuity. Acronis offers the most comprehensive security solution on the market for MSPs with its unique ability to meet the needs of diverse and distributed IT environments.
A Swiss company founded in Singapore in 2003, Acronis has 15 offices worldwide and employees in 50+ countries. Acronis Cyber Protect is available in 26 languages in 150 countries and is used by over 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses. Learn more at www.acronis.com.