Thirty students from Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa have benefitted from MICT SETA’s work-integrated learning programme, setting them up to gain meaningful employment in the technology sector.

To address the shortage of skills, and career development, MICT SETA collaborated with the Empire Partner Foundation, a tech-focussed non-profit organisation, in the delivery of appropriate learning programmes, such as internships and work integrated learning programmes.

MICT SETA focuses on skills development to support the meaningful economic participation of young people, while the EPF empowers African young people through technology-based initiatives.

The students joined the MICT SETA and the EPF programme in April last year, and were mentored and trained in various software languages and disciplines, including HTML, AWS, MySQL, Php, JQuery, CSS, Javascript, Python, Django and Bootstrap.

All the participating students have since been placed in jobs after the year long training program.

“To ensure that South Africa's youth can compete in the global market, digital skills are essential. The more likeminded organisations that are passionate about helping our youth succeed in creating a future for themselves collaborate, the better for everyone,” says the EPF.

“The collaboration between MICT SETA and the Empire Partner Foundation intends to reduce the skills gap and lower unemployment rates. Currently, more than half of young people lack the skills required to succeed in the IT industry. Our partnership is establishing a setting in which they can prosper, contribute, and leave their mark on the global digital economy.”

In a statement, both entities say, the partnership prioritises empowering youth with skills, and developing a sufficient supply of ‘skilled professionals, researchers and innovators to build ICT products and service the industry so that we reduce the need to import talent’.

The statement reads: “Before the internship, the group had below basic understanding of different software development disciplines. The interns struggled with time management and had a hard time with new software disciplines.”

Upon completion of the programme, the EPF says the students can ‘understand time management and project growth, they can develop and have developed working software systems’.

“The interns have improved in their problem solving skills, as well as improved thinking on platform development. They have gained skills such as system presentation, client communication, teamwork and new software languages usage.”