A group of BTech Networking students who participated and completed the Cisco CCNA course work provided by the IT Department recently took the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) exam in Muscat. This is the second batch of students who completed the department’s initiative of providing a preparatory course for CCNA in order to increase their chance of passing the CCNA exam. Out of 9 who completed the course and took the exam, 8 passed, for an overall passing percentage of 88%. The CCNA certification is a highly sought-after IT industry certification created by Cisco Systems, Inc. An individual holding a CCNA certification is considered qualified to perform the duties of a network technician and/or administrator.

This batch of new CCNA passers joins the first batch of student passers – three BTech Networking students – who got their CCNA certifications last April 015. These 3 students were the first batch of students who participated in the IT Department’s CCNA preparatory course work, and all of them passed the CCNA after completing the said course work from the department.

The CCNA preparatory course work is conducted by Mr. Abdul Basith, a Network Lecturer, who handles the theoretical topics, and Mr. Rodel Antonio, a Network Technician, who provides the hands-on training to participating students. This project is provided to students that completed all their academic requirements in BTech Networking, to increase their chances of passing the CCNA certification exam.

As of this time, a total of 11 students from this project had already passed the exam as follows: Ibrahim Mohammed Hamed Al-Tubi, Tahani Khamis Juma Al-Tobi, Eman Said Al-Saidi, Ruqaya Nasser Salim Al-Hinai, Fatima Raheen Suleiman Al-Yahyai, Raja Salim Hamood Al-Harrasi, Kholoud Mubarak Al Abd Al-Abri, Maya Rashid Hammad Al-Tobi, Nahla Musabbeh Saeed Al-Maani, Zakiya Ali Sloom Al-Nahdi and Sahar Suroor Salam Al Shukaili.

Most of these students were able to secure 60% exam discount vouchers, thus, they only paid the remaining 40% exam fee when they took the certification exam.

Currently, the 3rd Batch of students is being prepared by the department for CCNA exam. A total of 14 students are participating in this batch and the tentative date of their exam is April 2016.