Business Connexion (BCX) is sponsoring three disabled previously disadvantaged individuals with IT training that will assist them in getting meaningful employment.
This training takes place at Action, a non-profit learning centre based in Roodepoort. Since its inception in 2002, it has had over 100 disabled graduates and is currently training 47 students.
It equips disabled individuals with relevant IT skills necessary for the competitive job market and provides specific job training for blind, partially sighted and disabled youngsters.
BCX had originally sponsored IT training for Nontembeko Nojingxa, who is paralysed from the waist down, and Yvonne Motshegwe, who is partially sighted. Nojingxa`s subsequent employment as a call centre agent at Outsurance gave Victoria Moshe, who was born without arms and suffers from spine curvature, an opportunity to be trained.
Learners at Action are taught from Microsoft packages on PCs, which are equipped with Lookout or Jaws, software solutions that enable the PC to "speak" what is on the screen. The 18-month course can also be completed in a year, depending on a student`s learning ability.
"Learners are later entered in the Microsoft Office Specialist examination, which upon completion provides an internationally recognised certification that proves their knowledge and skill," says Ian Bottomly, founder of Action.
The key challenge that disabled people have to overcome is access to suitable education opportunities, according to Bottomly. This sometimes leads to their potential going unrecognised. "The result is a 'lost generation` of many thousands of young disabled people who have left school, but do not have sufficient skills to gain meaningful employment," he says.
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