Net@
Advancing Youth from High Risk to High Tech
“Through Project Net@ I will be a certified PC technician and web manager before I finish high school. I feel that this is going to give me the tools to really succeed in the high tech arena.” (Tomer Kapuri, Net@ participant)
Net@ is an exciting initiative that trains disadvantaged youth in the periphery of Israel for highly valued high-tech positions, and helps close the gaps associated with the “digital divide.” Net@ is a strategic alliance between the Jewish Agency for Israel with Keren Hayesod, Cisco Systems and Tapuach, an Israeli non-profit organization. Focused on Israeli students in 9th to 11th grades, Net@ aims to develop high-tech proficiency and computer knowledge in combination with Internet skills.
The program has two elements– academic and social. To meet these two targets, each group is accompanied by two instructors. For the academic side 45 young instructors, from various fields of technology, have been carefully selected and trained to work in this specific project. To meet the social needs, 16 special counsellors provide support for the group’s social development. Social activities not only unite the group and build them as a team, but ensure that the weaker students get the support they need from their friends. A strong emphasis is put on volunteer work in the community – to develop a sense of civic responsibility.
Students begin the 3 year after-school Net@ program at the start of high school, attending twice a week sessions in centres within their communities. The program begins with an intense English proficiency enrichment class. The first year curriculum emphasizes the physical structure of computers and the basics of Internet access as it trains students to be PC technicians and work on operating systems.
Additionally, the students are involved in structured volunteering activities such as: teaching adults in their communities computer skills that are relevant for their lives, mentoring younger students in computer usage and English and maintaining computers in senior citizen homes and community centres.