Mobile operator MTN plans to invest R1.25 million in its learnership programme for unemployed youth.
The first learnership will help 93 unemployed graduates, most of them previously disadvantaged youth and 15 of them disabled people, to gain full-time employment with MTN.
The learnerships are within the firm`s network group, information systems and customer service departments, in line with employment and national skills development strategies.
"SA operates in a global community and MTN wants to ensure the country`s competitiveness continues," says Maanda Manyatshe, MD of MTN SA.
Andrew Johnston, MTN senior consultant, says the benefit of a learnership is that a student is provided with a qualification obtained at the workplace, while learning from skilled employees.
"The learnership will position MTN as a learning organisation and a leader in the telecommunications industry. It builds the individual and workplace capacity, therefore learners acquire skills that will be relevant to future challenges," says Johnston.
Stefan Lauber, director of one of MTN`s training providers, i-Fundi, notes that the government provides companies with a tax break of up to R50 000 for every learner recruited.
"Government has also set up the Employment Skills Development Agency to handle the administration process of finding learners for training and finally certifying them for their competence," says Lauber.
The MTN learnership programme is a joint initiative with the Department of Labour, the Department of Trade and Industry and ISETT SETA. Training providers working together with MTN include i-Fundi, Siemens` training institute and Quest consulting agency.
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