Pinnacle Holdings has partnered with the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) and technology solutions company Hlanganani ICT, to launch a learnership programme which aims to partially address SA's IT skills shortage.
JSE-listed Pinnacle Holdings announced 50 learners will undergo training, facilitated by Hlanganani, in courses such as IT systems support, technical support, management, and further education and training certificates in telecoms studies.
The year-long programme recruits unemployed youth who have passed matric, and the new students will graduate early next year, it says.
Learners have been assigned to Pinnacle Holdings' subsidiary companies AxizWorkgroup and Pinnacle Africa, where they will undergo practical workplace training with designated mentors in addition to course theory.
AxizWorkgroup's communications head Alessandra Jordaan says Hlanganani is tasked with ensuring course content is in line with MICT SETA guidelines, while Pinnacle and MICT SETA will fund the training programme.
"The learnership programme will cost around R53 000 per learner," says Jordaan. This means a total of more than R2 million will be spent on the 50 students in this year's programme.
Jordaan says some learners will be retained by Pinnacle Holdings and placed in subsidiary companies when training is complete, while others will go through a recruitment process to be placed in jobs with IT resellers or other service providers.
"At worst, some learners are released into the working world without jobs, but with experience and knowledge obtained from their year with us," adds Jordaan. She says the programme is "a long-term commitment by Pinnacle Holdings" which will continue beyond this year.
Growing initiatives
Pinnacle Holdings' programme adds to private sector initiatives tackling SA's skills gap through training initiatives. iBurst recruited 50 learners from Soweto and Eldorado Park last month, in what it noted was a contribution to SA's broader skills development initiatives.
The iBurst programme runs for a year and the company indicated it would allocate students across its various departments when the course was finished.
Meanwhile, outsourcing company EOH pumped millions into training initiatives for school leavers and graduates when it launched its annual programme which recruits over 600 people and equips them with skills to enter the marketplace.
EOH trains students in courses relating to ICT, banking, retail and manufacturing in its programme, which launched in 2012.
Share