Torque IT will spend R500 000 to roll out an ICT training initiative aimed at the youth, as part of a planned legacy project.
The company is currently in talks with the Fifa 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC); however, Greg Fredericks, who heads up the LOC 2010 Legacy Project, says final agreements have not yet been officially signed.
The proposed project forms part of Torque IT's plans to organise programmes that will benefit communities long after the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The company aims to provide basic computer literacy classes to high school soccer players in disadvantaged areas.
According to Tebogo Makgatho, Torque IT sales and marketing director, Torque IT will provide IT trainers and computers to schools and recreation centres to teach learners how to use programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, as well as how to use the Internet.
The ICT training solutions provider is currently in talks with Microsoft and the Kelly Group to form a partnership deal that could see the three companies working together to fund the legacy project.
Skills development
Makgatho says: “The LOC has identified 52 sites in total for the legacy project. We are going to pilot the first nine sites, which include Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
“If we are granted additional funding, we will expand the project. As part of the 2010 theme, we will first target high school soccer players. We will also train trainers and technicians who will maintain the learning centres.”
Torque IT will first pilot the social investment project in schools around Upington, Mogwase and Everton before the start of the Fifa Soccer World Cup. However, no official dates have been confirmed for the start of the project. Based on the success of the pilot sites, the project will then be rolled out to six other sites during and after the World Cup.
Training the youth
Makgatho says Torque IT will also select promising students from the project to undergo further ICT training and learnerships. Torque Career Campus has trained more than 1 700 previously disadvantaged learners since inception.
In August last year, Torque IT partnered with the Professional Women's Forum to roll out mobile classrooms to learners based in Ekurhuleni. The buses were completely networked and equipped with computers and trainers to teach computer literacy skills to 240 matric learners.
“The learners are given the tools to be able to create a CV so they can be marketable. It's about exposing them to job opportunities that are relevant to their skills,” explains Makgatho.
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