2/5/2001 -- According to various international Oracle Education Web sites, Oracle will be offering reduced-cost beta exams in many Asian countries this spring.

For example, candidates in Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia will soon be able to register for "language" beta for the company's SQL and PL/SQL exams during late March/early April.

Oracle is also offering its Indonesian and Malaysian customers the chance to beta two 8i exams, Performance Tuning and Network Administration.

The price for the exams will be one-fourth the usual cost. Passing the beta does count towards certification.

Oracle offers various free and reduced-cost international testing from time to time, and the offers themselves vary from country to country. For example, the U.K Oracle Web site recently announced several free testing days during March; registration for these is already full. The U.K. site says that more dates may be coming in May.

To find out what testing opportunities Oracle may be holding in your area of the world, and for details on the above betas, visit http://education.oracle.com, use the pull-down menu to select your country, click on "Certification" (left-hand menu) then click on "What's New" (if present). If there's no mention of any Betas on that particular site, e-mail the local certification provider. -B.N.