Siemens on Friday launched the first Siemens Information and Communications Training Institute in Africa, in what it says is an attempt to keep up with the requirements of a local telecommunications industry in a high growth phase.
The Pretoria institute is a departure from the product-specific training Siemens previously provided to customers. Courses are to range from five-day refreshers for technicians to a two-semester module that can form part of a tertiary degree, and the subject matter stretches from fibre optics to Unix administration.
Although the institute, with a staff of 30, will initially require an estimated R20 million in funding per year, the company plans to turn it into a profitable business in due course.
"The investment was relatively large," says Pete da Silva, Telecommunications COO. But he believes training is essential for the future of both Siemens and its competitors. "The biggest issue we have in SA is a lack of knowledge workers."
The institute is headed up by educationalist Lennox Tshwete, the younger brother of minister Steve Tshwete who passed away on Friday night.
Tshwete says the local telecommunications industry needs to train around 1 200 people every year for the next three to four years in order to keep up with the growth it is facing. He hopes that around 800 people will pass through the institute every year, most of whom will be technicians attending short courses on, for instance, the new UMTS and GPRS cellular technologies.
Web-based training will be available for basic courses.
The institute is to have a hands-on approach in all its training, Tshwete says. "We are not an academic institution." It has, however, partnered with several tertiary institutions and plans to work closely with the government Department of Communications and the IT Sector Education and Training Authority.
Siemens has similar organisations in Europe and Asia, but as the Pretoria institute is the first in Africa, it is expected to expand its activities to cover much of the rest of the continent in future.
Share
