The youth unemployment rate in South Africa is 38.2%*. This means that more than one in every three young people, aged 15 – 34 years, qualified or unqualified, are unable to obtain employment to support their families.
“The youth unemployment rate in South Africa is 38.2%*. This means that more than one in every three young people, aged 15 – 34 years, qualified or unqualified, are unable to obtain employment to support their families. AfriGIS, in partnership with MICT SETA and CTU Training Solutions, are striving towards removing the ten AfriGIS Learnership candidates from these statistics by awarding them the opportunity to obtain a National Certificate in IT Systems Development” commented Christa Welthagen, AfriGIS Human Resources Manager during the recent Learnership Induction held at the CTU Pretoria Campus, Gauteng.
The Learnership programme is designed to run over a period of 12 months with the first six months of theoretical training, while learners continue to attend lectures at the CTU Pretoria Campus. This is followed by six months of practical working experience at AfriGIS where the learners acquire expert skills, as well as the knowledge, attitudes and values required to operate in the IT business environment. Initially launched in 2012, the AfriGIS Learnership Programme has aimed to develop and empower several young South Africans in the areas of Information and Technology and plays a part in changing the status quo of our country’s unemployment rate. This lays a foundation to address the skills gap that exists in IT and other industries. AfriGIS is privileged to continue our valuable partnership with MICT SETA to address the challenges of learners and the industry.
“It is an incredibly rewarding experience for the learners to undertake. We would like to thank AfriGIS for positively enriching the lives of each individual taking part in this programme, as it continues to create sustainable skills development initiatives. We, as CTU, will continue to provide academic support and ensure that the learners are well equipped to advance into the professional working environment with AfriGIS. We ask that they not only attend each class lecture, but to also commit themselves in fulfilling every outcome of the programme,” said Sunita Gouws, Campus Manager at CTU.
CF Haasbroek, AfriGIS’s Development Manager concluded the induction by adding, “Our goal is to create competent workplace ready developers as we train them to become well-rounded knowledge workers through the experience of learning and work execution management. We expect them to soak in information and continue to improve their skills as they embark on this journey of self-discovery. The learners should remember to learn what motivates them personally, as they are our success stories. What they take from this experience will shape them to become tomorrow’s IT leaders.”
It is an incredibly rewarding experience for the learners to undertake. – Sunita Gouws, Campus Manager at CTU
* Source: StatsSA