Opinion

The Editorial Board

A Record of Success in Training High-Tech Workers

Dec. 25, 2024

By The Editorial Board


The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

This is part of an Opinion series on The New York Times Communities Fund, which assists nonprofits that provide direct support to people and communities facing hardship. Donate to the fund here.

Training programs that successfully prepare underemployed men and women for cutting-edge tech careers are exceedingly rare. The work force development organization known as Per Scholas has been doing exactly that for nearly 30 years — free of charge to the men and women whose lives have been transformed by its programs. This record of success makes Per Scholas more than worthy of your support.

The program started out in the South Bronx in 1995, teaching young people to refurbish computers for distribution to local schools. The organization has since become a national work force training provider with locations in 24 cities, preparing workers for careers in information technology, cloud computing, software engineering and cybersecurity. Learners who participate can expect 30 to 40 hours of class work per week and three hours a day of post-class studying for 12 to 15 weeks.

Per Scholas works closely with leading tech employers on matters of curriculum, ensuring that its students have in-demand skills when they graduate. One of those employers is Barclays Bank, which has partnered with the program for more than a decade and has hired almost 70 graduates. Barclays helped with a cybersecurity curriculum and worked with Per Scholas to launch campuses in Brooklyn and Newark.

編委會撰文

編輯委員會由一群意見記者組成，他們的觀點來自專業知識、研究、辯論和某些長期價值。它與新聞編輯室是分開的。

這是《紐約時報社區基金》意見系列的一部分，該基金幫助非營利組織為面臨困難的人民和社區提供直接支持。在這裡向該基金捐款。

能夠成功地幫助未充分就業的男性和女性為尖端科技職業做好準備的培訓計畫極為罕見。被稱為 Per Scholas 的勞動力發展組織近 30 年來一直在這樣做——免費向那些生活因該計畫而改變的人們提供服務。這一成功記錄使佩爾·斯科拉斯非常值得您的支持。

該計畫於 1995 年在南布朗克斯啟動，教導年輕人翻新電腦並分發給當地學校。此後，該組織已成為全國性勞動力培訓提供商，在 24 個城市設有分支機構，為員工在資訊技術、雲端運算、軟體工程和網路安全領域的職業生涯做好準備。參與的學習者預計每週有 30 至 40 小時的課堂作業，每天有 3 小時的課後學習，持續 12 至 15 週。

Per Scholas 與領先的科技雇主在課程方面密切合作，確保學生畢業時擁有所需的技能。巴克萊銀行 (Barclays Bank) 就是其中之一，該銀行與該計劃合作已有十多年，並已僱用了近 70 名畢業生。巴克萊銀行幫助開設了網路安全課程，並與 Per Scholas 合作在布魯克林和紐瓦克開設了校園。