Education is changing. We've created an ecosystem of sharing and knowledge. Sukhram isn't sure about that, but he does say the curriculum gives his students an excellent understanding of networking skills they can transfer to systems other than Cisco's if they have to. It's also about enhancing Cisco's corporate image and building market share. Cisco certainly isn't the first corporation to use public education to sell a product.
Schools are now just another market for advertising, as far as many companies are concerned.
But just because partnerships between schools and private enterprise have become more and more common doesn't mean everyone has welcomed Cisco's program with open arms. When it hit Alberta in 2000, Larry Booi, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association, wasn't thrilled. But it looked to me like we were tailoring instruction in schools to meet the needs of a corporation. That's not the only problem Booi has with these programs. Until last fall, schools were offering the curriculum without it being standardized by the province.