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Linux Professional Institute puts Linux in the classrooms

Businesses really, really want trained Linux professionals, and the Linux Professional Institute wants to help by providing a new training program for middle-school students on up.
Written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols, Senior Contributing Editor

Do you want a job in IT? Then you really need to learn Linux and open-source software.

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An LPI certification can help you land a Linux job.

When I was at the open-source OSCon convention earlier this year,  everyone, and I mean everyone, including Microsoft, was looking to hire people with Linux and open-source experience. A recent Dice and Linux Foundation survey found that 93 percent of employers were looking to hire Linux staffers in the next six months and that 90 percent were having trouble finding qualified individuals.

The problem is that there aren't enough Linux-savvy people around. The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), the oldest, non-vendor linked Linux certification organization, has a solution: The LPI Academy.

According to the LPI, "The LPI Academy program empowers educators to prepare students for an entry-level Linux Essentials course (a globally recognized "Certificate of Achievement") and to further students' or employees' career path as a Systems Administrator via LPI's professional certification track."

LPI Academy curriculum resources consist of the following elements:

  • LPI Exam Objectives and Examinations
  • LPI Partner Course Materials
  • Classroom Instruction
  • Classroom Labs
  • Instructor training

For schools the virtues of the LPI Academy program are that it enables them to include LPI educational resources into their existing organizational curricula without creating new learning materials that align with their own programs or an up-front participation fee as is often the case with other "affiliation-based" IT training programs.

The LPI has been providing Linux classes and certification for more than a decade. While the LPI certifications are not as well-regarded as Red Hat's higher-end Linux certifications, they've proven to be useful for both IT job hunters and companies looking for qualified IT employees.

The LPI Academy program is designed prepare students for an entry level Linux job, the LPIC-1. Students who receive a LPIC-1 are also eligible for the SUSE Certified Linux Administrator (CLA) certification.

Finally, the LPI noted that "the LPI Academy assists students to connect with LPI's global community and Jobs Initiative so that they may obtain valuable work experience before graduation from their formal education program. This combination of education and certification and experience provides students with a competitive edge when seeking that all important first job and a subsequent lifelong learning path for career advancement."

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