ITQ supports eAbility Graduate Programme

ITQ, an organisation that focuses on providing complete enterprise business software solutions based on leading technology platforms and middleware, has recently joined the eAbility Graduate Programme in support of giving previously disadvantaged learners the opportunity to gain practical workplace experience within the company. ITQ has committed to training 10-20 interns with a specific focus on software development skills and project management in 2006.

The eAbility Graduate Programme was officially launched this year as a mechanism to give company-run learnerships or intern programmes the opportunity to develop practical IT workplace experience for their participants. "ITQ has come on board as a major partner to this venture. They saw the benefit of participating in a programme that takes the theoretical knowledge of intern programme and gives learners the ability to utilise this knowledge in a day-to-day working environment to ensure that they not only understand the fundamentals of business and technology but have undertaken concrete on-the-job training," says Muzi Mazibuko, COO of eAbility.

"Our programme is open to any learner with a Grade 12 qualification that is ideally an Information Systems graduate or experienced software developer/database administrator, who is looking to further their experience in technology with a view of obtaining an international Oracle certification upon completion of the programme. As a result, we focus on practical workplace requirements in the software development and data management sector, such as software project management, change management and business analysis, to ensure all participants gain exposure to a variety of fields and job functions within this environment."

"However, we make sure that we not only give learners the opportunity to work on actual IT projects, but that we map their interests to their required work experience. For example, if a student has an interest in one particular area of specialisations then they would take ownership of this aspect of a project. Of course all projects are managed by experienced mentors who guide them through the requirements of the project," adds Mazibuko.

"If we consider the incredible skills shortage, particularly within the IT sector locally, then programmes like this not only give companies the opportunity to broaden their access to new entrants, but also ensures that participants of the programme are given concrete, practical training that complements their theoretical skills, " says Stephan Bracher, director at ITQ. "ITQ has taken an active interest in this programme as a means of developing skilled technical personal for our company and the industry as a whole. As a result, we are hoping to drive this programme into the larger IT community to get more organisations to participate, whether it be through taking on graduates internally or sponsoring live projects that participants can work on."

"Through the commitment that ITQ has made to developing these learners, once participants have completed their year-long practical training, companies can be assured of gaining access to competently skilled software developers that not only understand the softer business skills but have worked on actual projects and gained hands-on experience, which is an invaluable asset for anyone person seeking employment opportunities within the IT sector," concludes Bracher.

According to Mazibuko, all participants of this programme undertake regular performance management reviews, which ensure that their growth path is correctly managed as well making certain a balance exists between utilising their theoretical knowledge and actual business and product knowledge. "Our aim, through the support of companies like ITQ, is to grow the competency levels of the merging technology workforce, so we need to certify that participants of our graduate programme gain practical skills that can be utilised in the IT sector."