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iBurst programme to boost ICT skills pool

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 21 Jan 2014
iBurst hopes its ICT training initiative will help bridge the gap between education and training, ultimately benefitting the labour market.
iBurst hopes its ICT training initiative will help bridge the gap between education and training, ultimately benefitting the labour market.

iBurst has launched an ICT skills learnership programme that will see the wireless broadband provider take on 50 unemployed students from Soweto and Eldorado Park, to receive practical training at iBurst.

The scholars have been approved by the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority.

iBurst CEO Thami Mtshali says the company's latest initiative provides it with the opportunity to contribute to the country's larger skills development programme.

iBurst hopes the initiative will help address gaps between education and training - and the needs of the labour market. It believes that through its ICT programme, the youth from some of the country's most disadvantaged areas will get the opportunity to receive structured work experience.

"We are endeavouring not only to provide these young students with access to training, but we also hope to eventually absorb the majority of them as permanent employees of iBurst, WBS and Broadlink," says Mtshali.

Wireless Business Solutions - or WBS - started operating in 2005 and provides connectivity to iBurst and Broadlink, which allows the companies to offer a range of products.

Learnership layout

iBurst says its learnership programme will run for 12 months. The first four months, says the company, will consist of theoretical (off-site) training, while the remainder of the year will be spent at iBurst.

"The aim is to allocate these students to different departments (human resources, networks, logistics, etc) during their practical training period to ensure they are skilled and competent to be retained and/or go out and start their own ventures."

iBurst has partnered with accredited training provider Qhakaza Management Services, and will use the entity's training facility in Soweto for the theoretical part of the training.

Qhakaza Management Servicers has been running student induction since Wednesday in preparation for the start of the learnerships, which kicked off at iBurst yesterday.

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