LUSO Computer Institute, having undergone a change in ownership and management, has announced that it will maintain its bursary loan programme to help previously disadvantaged students to develop the skills they need for a career in systems development.
Students enrolling for Cobol earn bursaries based on merit, and after qualifying via LUSO`s two-phase test. This involves the completion of an evaluation test - as all LUSO`s students must do - as well as the institute`s week-long Introduction to Programming course.
"80% of students who completed courses with us in the past three years have been previously disadvantaged," says Izane Cloete, marketing director of LUSO.
LUSO focuses on quality, not quantity, and in a typical year only 180 students pass through its doors. Only the top 30 applicants who qualify via the two-phase test are selected and can continue with a course.
An example of the institute`s development training programmes was an initiative with four major banks in SA under the auspices of the South African Reserve Bank in 1998. Those banks were FNB, Standard, Absa and NBS, beginning with 32 students undergoing a year-long training course worth R30 000 per student.
Also in 1998, one of only five female students to achieve a distinction in examinations held by the Information Technology Users Council (ITUC) was Leab Masinyane, a 23-year-old former receptionist, trained by LUSO. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed as a systems programmer at Absa.
Another to undergo a dynamic and impressive career change was Xolile Maduna, a former taxi driver who completed a Cobol programming course at LUSO with a partial bursary, and who was placed at Nedbank on completion of the course.
"As programming is just one of the skills required in software development, LUSO also offers its students life skills training, preparing them to tackle the corporate market and integrate with its cultures," says Cloete. "As an IT professional, you cannot be a clock-watcher and you must have a sense of urgency, be able to meet deadlines and be on standby when needed. There is no better exposure to reinforce the learning process than to perform and execute tasks that form part of the real work environment."
That is why at LUSO, trainees will develop between 60 and 80 programs each during their course and write tests and exams every week, ensuring they can hit the ground running.
"The curriculum is unique as it is so practical. Students are tested against international benchmarks and achieve results consistent with three to four years` industry experience, which is what I experienced when hiring LUSO students in the past," adds Marinus van Sandwyk, chairman of LUSO.
Van Sandwyk previously founded Silverlake Technologies, where he developed technology for System 38 and AS400 platforms, later selling the technology to IBM and the company to Idion.
LUSO is ISETT SETA-approved. The SETA forms part of the structure established by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA); LUSO is also a member of the ITA and ITUC.
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