This month the country was struck with the news that unemployment reached record highs for the past quarter. It makes for grim reading, especially if you are a recent graduate looking for employment, which is initiatives such as the Huawei ICT Academy programme are becoming increasingly important.
Run by Huawei for a few years now, the ICT Academy looks to not only assist in upskilling students for jobs in the local ICT space, but also put them into contact with representatives from SA firms in need of skilled talent.
With this in mind, the ICT Academy recently held an online event where 70 graduates met with representatives from nine of Huawei’s South African technology partner companies.
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Blade Nzimande was also in virtual attendance, stressing the importance of these kinds of programmes, especially for the building of critical skills.
“To us, partnerships with our universities and colleges are a critical component of our skills development strategy. I would like to encourage all the students at this job fair to seize the moment, ensuring that they market themselves and engage with Huawei and its partners for job placement opportunities and future skilling,” he emphasised.
“Huawei’s vision and approach to training speaks for itself and must be commended. It focuses on skills training that is labour market demand-driven. This will go a long way to bridge the gap between industry and academia,” the minister added.
For those unfamiliar with the programme, it focuses on the latest 4IR technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, AI, IoT, and big data.
Students who complete the course are encouraged to write the Huawei internationally recognised certification exam, with the company carrying the cost. Those who pass the exam are invited to attend the aforementioned job fair with the aim to market themselves and engage with Huawei and its partners for job placement opportunities.
“Since the start of the Huawei ICT Academy programme in South Africa in 2016, Huawei South Africa has managed to help more than 200 graduates to obtain job opportunities within Huawei and its channel partners. Today, we hope to increase this number,” noted Wang Hui, director of Southern Africa Enterprise Delivery & Service Department at Huawei SA.
“Huawei realised a long time ago that the key for our success, and the key to South Africa’s success, is in education and talent nurturing,” he concluded.
To find out more about the ICT Academy, both as a student or an interested technology partner, head here.
