2.26.2008 - 10:23am ET

(CSRwire) ALEXANDRIA, VA - February 26, 2008 - Dr. Appu Kuttan, Chairman of the National Education Foundation (NEF) CyberLearning, the global nonprofit leader in digital education, announced today a nationwide initiative to provide scholarships to a million low and middle income individuals affected by the oncoming recession.

CyberLearning, winner of the Global Digital Literacy Champion Award given to the person making the most contributions globally to bridging the digital divide, is hoping that companies make the scholarships available to their employees making less than $60,000 annually either as a full benefit or with co-pay.

According to Dr. Kuttan, "Fear of recession is forcing people, especially low and middle income individuals, small businesses and others, to cut back on training, which is normally expensive. At the same time, the U.S. Labor Department is predicting a shortage of two million IT workers by 2010. An obvious solution is to make job skills training affordable to our low and middle income individuals. That is the rationale for this important initiative."

The One Million Scholarships Program offers free high quality Web-based IT (includes 30 certifications), Business, Testprep, K-12 Math, Science and Technology education courses to students and teachers as well as unemployed and underemployed individuals. The course packages, each containing 100-400 courses and each worth $400-$800, are offered free, and the user pays a nominal registration fee of $30 for any course package. One could take these courses to learn new skills or improve the learned skills or prepare for certifications in Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe, CompTia, Oracle, Office Applications, Networking, Programming, Web Design, Project Management etc. See the course catalog containing 2,500 courses grouped into 30+ course packages at www.cyberlearning.org/coursecatalog

Former President Bill Clinton commends CyberLearning, "You are helping to empower tomorrow's leaders," he told the group. "I salute you for your ongoing commitment for creating a better and stronger America." Congressional Republican Tom Davis also supports the initiative. He states, "Congratulations on a wonderful program."

To apply for the scholarship, just visit www.cyberlearning.org/scholarships. You can be taking the courses you need within two minutes! It is as easy as ABC!

About NEF CyberLearning

CyberLearning, a project of the non-profit National Education Foundation, is the world's leading non-profit organization bridging the digital and academic divides through digital education. CyberLearning provides IT, digital literacy, math and science education to millions in many countries including the U.S., India, Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritius.

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