by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI is celebrating some milestones of its Information and Communications Technolog Academy and top performing academies and instructors in Souh Africa for the first half of 2021.
More than 60 academic institutions – including 40 from the crucial Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector- have enrolled across all nine provinces since the launch of the programme.
Over 4 000 students and lecturers have participated in Huawei ICT certification training and more than 2 000 students have successfully obtained the Huawei certificate.
“These outstanding achievements are measured against a very difficult period of the pandemic, which makes it all the more important to celebrate and acknowledge,” says Kian Chen, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Huawei South Africa.
By facilitating this kind of skills development, Huawei is helping South Africa achieve its potential as a major global digital hub.
Buti Kgwaridi Manamela, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, said, “Let me take this opportunity to commend the Huawei ICT Academy for the sterling work it has been doing with South African colleges and universities, in training young people in such critical technical areasas Routing and Switching, WLAN, Security, Cloud Computing, Storage, BigData, IOT and Artificial Intelligence.”
He added ICT skills had been highlighted as one of the National List of Occupations in high demand in South Africa.
“Huawei has been one of the forerunners in our efforts to build a digital workforce for South Africa,” Manamela said.
Sanele Mlotshwa, President of South African Public Colleges Organisation (SACPO), urged all educational institutions to register for the academy.
“I urge all instructors to use the support to ensure they get certified. The colleges that are not taking up these opportunities are missing out on the benefits,” Mlotshwa said.
The Graduate Institute of South Africa won the award for top performing academy.
“I’m very pleased to receive first prize on behalf of my team. We are determined to raise the bar even further,” Managing Director, Mncedisi Thwala, said.
Thabani Njab, ICT Training Officer and Huawei ICT Academy Instructor, University of Venda, who took third place in the top instructor’s category, said the varsity had been a Huawei ICT Academy since 2019.
“We currently have two courses and aim to expand further. I’d like to thank Huawei for providing this platform for learning. It’s a great opportunity for our students,” Njaba said.
Top Huawei ICT Academies were the Graduate Institute of South Africa, Tshwane South TVET College and University of Venda.
The top Huawei ICT Academy Instructors were Sibusiso Shabalala (Graduate Institute of South Africa), Peter Letsoalo (Tshwane South TVET College) and Njaba.
Last week Huawei also held an online job fair for graduates of its ICT Academies. More than 50 youth will be placed in ICT jobs as a result.
– CAJ News