Vodacom empowers youth with ICT skills training

Vodacom empowers youth with ICT skills training In a bid to help tackle skills development and job creation within the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, Vodacom has embarked on a drive to help empower unemployed youth with ICT skills training.

On Tuesday, Vodacom through its Mobile Education programme in partnership with Cisco and MICT-Seta kicked off a youth development project at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth. The partnership aims to train unemployed youth in ICT skills and to further develop them into ICT entrepreneurs.

Vodacom Chief Officer: Corporate Affairs, Maya Makanjee says: "This is Vodacom's contribution towards the development of skills and job creation opportunities for unemployed youth. It is premised on the concept that the more skilled the youth are, the greater the opportunity for employment.

"We know that Cisco technical skills are some of the most sought after skills in the ICT industry."

The skills development will cover training in A+, N+ and 3G connectivity for a period of six months. The project will train and develop 15 ICT entrepreneurs in each of the nine Vodacom ICT resource centres situated in all the provinces.

All participants' stipend and accommodation will be paid for by Vodacom.

On entrepreneurial skills, the training will run for a period of six months and will focus on empowering the youth with business skills.

The Vodacom youth skills development project focuses in particular on helping nurture skills needed in the ICT industry, with the potential for beneficiaries to be offered practical experience that will include projects such as ICT installation in schools. Trainees will also be used in the technical support for the schools that are part of the Vodacom Mobile Education programme.