Twenty-one year old Patience Mdanda is one of those Next-Generation, tech-crazy youngsters with a 3D mind.
The Computer Systems Engineering graduate toys with the complex world of networking, big thoughts she brought with her to Gauteng from the North-West town of Klerksdorp about three months ago. Now undergoing training at the Siemens Information and Communications Training Institute in Pretoria, Patience also contemplates serious issues like the convergence of IT and telecoms, which will unleash the ''snazzy'' Mobile Internet, she says.
Patience is one the 50 students at the Institute, who are undergoing training towards a National Diploma in Telecoms, a course accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Upon completion, graduates will be placed as interns at the major telecoms players within South Africa, and more importantly, with Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs).
In an effort to realise the dreams of students like Patience, and further train, deploy and retain ICT skills in South Africa, the Information Systems, Electronics and Telecommunication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (ISETT SETA) today announced a funding allocation of R11, 7 million - from its discretionary grant pool - to Siemens Telecommunications, marking the ISETT SETA's first aggressive foray into the growing telecommunications sector.
Mateli Mpuntsha, the Chief Executive Officer of the ISETT SETA, said the money would be used for the development and implementation of Learnership programmes at Siemens, and also to grow the skills base and performance of the telecoms industry, which is expected to undergo massive growth within the next five years.
In the 2002 / 2003 financial year, the ISETT SETA is dispatching funds worth R42 million from its discretionary pool of grants to ICT companies within South Africa. The National Skills Authority Fund will allocate R103 million to ICT-administered projects in the same period. The money is used for vigorous training programmes and the subsequent placement of students in the workplace. The vision of the ISETT SETA is to develop the culture of an ICT knowledge-based society.
Mpuntsha said: ''The SETA has begun to shape up its skills development process, especially through the partnerships with industry players like Siemens. This process has especially helped place SMME's within industry, a huge priority for us, and out stakeholders, in the short-term.
''The impact is starting to be felt on the ground. Resources have been trained and 400 successfully placed through ISETT-SETA funded programs. This is a major achievement, given the cost of training in the hi-tech industry, and the pace of technology innovations,'' Mpuntsha said. Estimates indicate it costs about R50 000 a year to train a student in the ICT sector.
Mpuntsha said Siemens had been a ''supportive and loyal'' partner and craftsman in the Skills Development process. Together the partners were working hard at creating the right conditions for more jobs within the telecoms industry.
Commenting on industry, Mateli said: ''The sector is poised for unprecedented growth, especially with the convergence of the IT and telecommunications, the African mobile revolution and developments underway with the New Network Operator.
''Rural mobile telephony will continue to undergo an explosion, and the landscape in five years from now will be very different from today,'' Mpuntsha said.
The ISETT sector comprises about 212 000 employees, of whom about 186 400 use a computer as an integral part of their daily job, according to a recently-released report which assessed the ICT labour market for ISETT, SAITIS and the Department of Labour. The objectives were to establish information and quantitative data in the major ICT driven business sectors in South Africa, to assess the levels of ICT skills and investment in ICT training in the sector, especially in terms of the sector's ability to impact on the development of the human resource base in the country.
This is a high, but not unexpected, number of ICT users to total employees. The Non-ISETT sector comprises about 5.5 million employees, with about 1.7 million using a computer as an integral part of their daily job.
The report says the current demand for employees in the ISETT sector is about 3.1 percent of all ICT users. If this 3.1 percent is added to the expected migration rate of five percent, its is expected that the ISETT sector's need for employees will grow by 8.1 percent, which constitutes 15 000 ICT users.
Using the same method of calculation, i.e. 1.1 percent of total ICT Users and two percent attrition, this constitutes 59 500 ICT Users within the Non-ISETT sector.
Therefore the total annual requirement for ICT Users will be about 75 000. Using an average completion rate of 53 percent across various training providers for 2000 and 2001, combined with an attrition rate of 15 percent, the supply side of ICT Users will need to take in about 165 500 students to meet the demand.
Commenting on the past financial year, Lennox Tshwete, the Director of the Siemens Information and Communications Training Institute, said 2 437 candidates have received training on various programs in the past year. Most of them have been from Siemens customers across many disciplines within the ICT sector. There were candidates from many African countries, including Benin, Kenya, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Said Tshwete: ''We plan to double this figure in the 2003 financial year. Its been a tough year but we intend to move forward assertively to train and retain more human resources, thanks also to our partnership with the ISETT SETA.''
In addition, Tshwete said there were several projects underway to ensure the deployment of SMMEs within the industry. Siemens, for instance, would from November 1 train 200 sub-contractors from the Key Accounts at Siemens Telecommunications. A Youth Internship programme was also being piloted with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), he said.
Siemens launched its Training Institute in April. It aims to develop highly skilled manpower for the telecoms industry. Approved by the ISETT SETA, the Institute will offer product, network, computer, web-based and individual customer training and coaching.
This financial year, 28 students have qualified as Telecommunication Technicians and all have been successfully placed at leading telecoms companies. Qualifications on offer include the Siemens Certified Information and Communications Expert (Sc Ice) qualification, Telecommunications Technician course, Certification for Installation Liaison Officers (ILO Learnership) and Installation Certificate. The aim of the SC Ice qualification is to enable students to become competent in specific areas in the telecommunications industry. The ILO Learnership will empower students to supervise the installation and commissioning of telecommunications equipment, while the certificate qualifies the student to install equipment.
In addition, the Institute offers a wide range of product-specific training courses and a new Telecommunications overview course for non-technical people.
Share