More skills initiatives needed

Johannesburg, 26 Jun 2007

Much more needs to be done in the ICT sector to develop skills, says deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Speaking this morning at a function to celebrate the graduation of 20 students from KPMG's growth acceleration programme, the deputy president praised companies that support government's Joint Initiative and Priority Skills Acquisition programme.

"We are seeing companies starting to embrace the challenge of the skills shortage in our country rather than throwing their hands up. I believe the skills revolution is starting."

In an exclusive interview with ITWeb, Mlambo-Ngcuka noted the IT sector was on a rampant growth path.

"We have lots of vacancies for IT professionals, both in the public and private sector. This sector [ICT] is a growing and robust industry, and demands will increase as government rolls out plans for local loop unbundling, initiatives to support the 2010 World Cup and increasing access to government services for the people."

The deputy president said the IT sector must get behind skills initiatives to support the public and private sector demands for the technology and services they enable.

"The sector has started to do some of the work behind skills alleviation, but we need more."

Another initiative Mlambo-Ngcuka urged individuals and businesses to take up is the "adopt-a-school" programme.

"We need people to associate themselves with schools and help them to grow. This is particularly important in under-performing areas where communities are in dire need of leadership to bring them into the next generation. We cannot let these communities feel alone."