Silulo Ulutho Technologies, a company providing computer literacy training to previously disadvantaged communities, is rolling out three training centres in Khayelitsha in the next few weeks.
Silulo Ulutho founder, Luvuyo Rani says: “There's been a huge interest in the training programmes, and we have over 600 students coming to use the technology every day. We currently have 10 training centres in the Western Cape and we want to expand further.”
The training company has received R80 000 in grant funding from the Department of Trade and Industry. It also received R26 000 funding from the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business.
On the job
Rani used to work full-time as an educator at Kwamfundo Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha. He says Silulo Ulutho's training programmes equip students with technology skills to improve their chances of finding employment in the future.
The training programmes focus on basic computer training and the majority of its students are school leavers and the unemployed youth.
“We find that many people come in and they don't know how to create a CV. We help them with that as well as training them in computers to find a job that suits them,” explains Rani.
“Many of our students come from poor townships and we want to educate them about the importance of ICT and show parents how they can be involved in encouraging their children to use the Internet to help them with their homework.”
Enabling entrepreneurs
Rani points out that more than 10% of the centre's students have adopted an entrepreneurial spirit and have started their own businesses using the computer skills they've learnt.
“The problem is that many people have great ideas to start their own businesses, but they don't have the confidence or the skills to do so, and they also often don't have access to computer services. We're investing in our communities to give them hope to follow their dreams.”
The company, founded in 2004, provides access to Internet, e-mail and printing services as well as computer repair facilities. The centres also sell hardware software and stationery supplies.
According to Rani, the company assists more than 50 companies and non-government organisations with their businesses and continues to attract more business.
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