SKILLS PROGRAMME EMPOWERS LOCAL YOUTH

March 2023.

A Life Skills Development programme, specifically designed to stimulate youth employment in the field of technology, has yielded a cohort of 16 graduates from the Siyancuma Local municipality area.

Funded by Boikanyo Solar in collaboration with the Advanced Technology Training Institute, the programme aims to empower and build ICT skills capacity for the participating youth, all of which were unemployed at the time of the selection. Through this credited course, participants gained knowledge and skills in ICT Skills Development Programme and Information Technology System Development, and received a Technical Support Certificate Level 4, rendering them job ready.

“The initiative forms part of our flagship youth development programme, which is intended to improve the skills of the youth in these communities and to close the unemployment gap. Following ongoing engagements with development stakeholders, we are looking at ways to transfer the skills by training youth to further their careers and start their own businesses,” explained Tshepo Kgoloane, Community Operations Manager for Boikanyo Solar.

In addition, top students will be guided to apply for further enhancement of their skills at the Sol Plaatje University. Those interested in starting their own business will also be linked with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) for business registration and entrepreneurship training to assist them with starting up their own businesses.

Lebogang Mongale, one of the programme beneficiaries, said, “The programme has helped me gain knowledge in IT and meet interesting people. My knowledge of how to open, disassemble, and build computers has been enhanced, as well as my ability to work on software.”