We are thrilled to share that today Acronis’ IT Skills initiative got an extension. In addition to educating ex-offenders in Singapore and veterans in the USA, we are now teaching IT basics to migrants in Switzerland. This new Acronis Cyber Foundation program is free of charge and is especially aimed at people with a migration background in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen who would like to obtain practical IT skills that will help them later in their education or when starting a job.

The first two pilot groups started their education on July 6 and will graduate on August 7, 2020 with more groups to follow in the years to come. The five-week-long course includes studying MS Office through lectures on theory and practical exercises by experienced instructors from the Migros Klubschule, Acronis partner on the project. Additionally, Acronis volunteers will share their experience and teach cybersecurity basics, as well as variety of soft-skills classes from creating a CV to presenting it in groups in front of an audience. We hope the gained expertise will help the students enter the job market with confidence and proper understanding of all opportunities they have. 

All students have very different backgrounds and come from a variety of countries originally: Syria, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Eritrea, the Balkans, etc. But all of them are united by the same goal: achieving new knowledge and striving to secure good employment opportunities.

Kurt Zubler, from the Integration Office Schaffhausen welcomes the program. “A lack of computer skills often proves to be a major obstacle for immigrants on their way to vocational training and the job market,” he says. People who have just fled their homes usually don’t have the opportunity to acquire basic IT skills. The experience with distance learning during the coronavirus lockdown has only worsened this. “With the free program from the Acronis Cyber Foundation, we can quickly take countermeasures here and thus improve the chances of successful vocational training.”

At the end of the course, all participants receive a certificate of attendance from the Acronis Cyber Foundation and Migros Klubschule.

The project idea was enthusiastically supported by Acronis employees from the DACH region, they have volunteered to teach soft skills classes aimed at successful integration of the students into the modern business world. With their support, the Acronis Cyber Foundation plans to have two to three groups of students per year in the future.

Anyone interested in partnering and actively contributing to these efforts can find additional information at https://acronis.org/migrants-programme/ or contact the Foundation team directly at foundation@acronis.org.