Latin American students broaden business and IT skills with PeopleCert certifications 

A specialist Colombian engineering university has broadened its partnership with PeopleCert by increasing the range of global best practice courses and certification available to students. 

The Colombian School of Engineering Julio Garavito (Escuela Colombiana de Ingenieria Julio Garavito) is now providing courses in PRINCE2 Practitioner and Management of Risk Practitioner (M_o_R). This builds on the ITIL and Scrum courses already delivered in conjunction with PeopleCert. 

The University is embedding professional credentials alongside its academic programmes in response to a national government and industrial associations initiative to upskill the country’s population. The courses, delivered via Julio Garavito’s Project Unit, are included in the Master’s in Development and Project Management programme, the undergraduate Fundamentals of Project Management degree and within continuing education programmes for people already in employment. 

José Arturo, Professor of Project Management and Business Relationship Manager at the University’s Projects Unit said: “By including PeopleCert courses such as PRINCE2 and M_o_R Practitioner in our curriculum, students are more engaged with the essential topics of project and risk management.  

“It is easier for students to understand what these disciplines mean when learning about fundamental concepts such as processes and roles and responsibilities within projects.” 

Professor Arturo noted that the logical design of PeopleCert best practice courses ensures consistency and the ability to integrate different approaches.  

He added: “As a university we must ensure our students develop the competencies to enhance their professional capability and career progression. The PRINCE2 and M_o_R courses are focused on learning outcomes which align with our curricula and which students can apply in a working environment.” 

Since first introducing PeopleCert courses in 2022, students who studied ITIL have accelerated their promotion in organisations, while others who certified in Scrum are using the method to develop public investment projects or provide coaching in the finance sector. And the university itself has employed elements of the PRINCE2 method to deliver a solar panel installation project. 

“We are offering PRINCE2 and M_o_R along with ITIL and Scrum to help our students get a valuable return on their financial and time investment in education. Taking the PeopleCert courses and obtaining globally-recognised certifications will give them an edge in the Colombian and wider Latin American job markets,” Professor Arturo added. 

Julio Garavito is currently preparing to add other PeopleCert best practices to its curriculum, including Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Management of Portfolios (MoP) and Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices (P3O), along with the ITIL Managing Professional designation and the new ITIL Practice Manager programme.