Students will be able to learn the latest IT and software programmes skills in state-of-the-art surroundings after Media Tek Ltd. set up a new training centre in Hamilton.

The new facility, which is based in the Brown-Brangman Building at 66 King Street, on the corner with Reid Street, and is Prometric, VUE, Certiport and ICDL authorised, offers everything from Cisco (training for products like routers and switches), CompTIA (A+ entry level IT certification) and project management courses to desktop training in Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 and Quickbooks, an accounting package for small to medium-sized businesses.

The company also celebrated receiving Learning Solutions Competency certification from Microsoft Corp. and is now designated as a Microsoft Certified Partner for Learning Solutions.

The new purpose-built offices, which were formerly part of next door neighbours Atlantic Vision Care, comprise a dedicated training centre for IT and business exams, two full-sized classrooms with eight computer terminals in each as well as a desk for the instructor.

Media Tek's managing director Michael Rhodes, who has been based in Bermuda for the past 24 years, having worked for Bermuda Police's computer department prior to starting his own company, said the move from Media Tek's former offices in Burnaby Street made perfect sense in order to have more space and capacity to offer its training courses following the expiration of its lease.

"We are extremely happy to have moved into what we believe is Bermuda's first custom-built IT training centre. It's a pleasant and comfortable environment geared absolutely towards learning.

"The move comes at an exciting time for the company, having just been promoted in the Microsoft Partner Programme.

"We can now offer students more technical training in a broad range of Microsoft products, such as; Windows Server, Exchange, SQL, SharePoint and other areas."

Mr. Rhodes, who originally formed the company in 1999 and started the training programmes a year later, said the facilities and courses available offer a good opportunity for students looking to start a career in IT or computing or even those looking to retrain in a new field.

"If people are looking for retraining for the workplace, we offer a number of applications like the Microsoft Office programmes which we run day and evening courses in, so if people are looking for a job, we can certainly give them the computer skills they need," he said.

For more information contact Media Tek on 268-9898 or visit the website to register online at www.mediatek.bm