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AIGS unveils IT skills training programme

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 31 Jan 2013

AIGS has unveiled an internship programme that will educate, train and see the employment of young South Africans within the local Progress Software community.

According to a JCSE skills survey, 66% of companies from a wide range of industries are severely impacted by a shortage of ICT skills.

Moreover, IT spend is expected to rise by at least 9.9% this year, leading to an even greater demand for skilled professionals in ICT, according to the report.

These concerns motivated AIGS, the sub-Saharan distributor for Progress Software, to combat the skills shortage through the internship programme.

"We formed the programme with the assistance of Progress International and of course the AIGS-Progress partners in SA," explains Premie Naicker, COO of AIGS.

"It's a good example of an initiative that works to improve a problem that ultimately influences both public and private sectors," he adds.

The initiative assists matric or tertiary-level candidates with training and eventual placement in various software companies specialising in the development, deployment and management of business applications using Progress software.

Progress Software is used in more than 400 000 businesses in 140 countries and places special focus on the so-called "nexus of forces", namely multi-tenancy, cloud, mobility and business analytics.

"We are looking for candidates who have graduated matric with a final maths and science score of between 60% and 66%," says Lizzy Netshikweta, currently managing the initiative for AIGS.

"Tertiary students may also apply. Candidates will be short-listed and then enter a testing phase to determine eligibility."

Initially, the programme will only be open to students in Gauteng, but there are plans to expand it into other areas of the country.

"It is a great opportunity for young South Africans who can't afford to attend college or university, or who are struggling to find work, to not only receive free training, but a reasonable starting salary and guaranteed placement in a very niche market," Naicker explains.

"They will receive hands-on training in the ABL programming language, which is very easy to work with and always in demand," concludes Naicker.

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