Lesley Stones
5 December 2008
Johannesburg — UNEMPLOYED graduates who have failed to find jobs despite holding a variety of degrees are being retrained to work as mentors in community technology centres.
Of the 94 graduates chosen for the training, 20 had BSc degrees and the rest had degrees in mechanical or chemical engineering, biotechnology and industrial psychology, several at honours level. Yet they cannot find work because their training has not given them any real-world experience.
Earlier this year they were recruited by Microsoft for extra training, and this month they will be placed in technology centres in disadvantaged areas to pass on their skills to the community. The scheme is backed by the science and technology department.
"The main reason they were unable to find work was a lack of real-world vocational experience," said David Ives, head of the developer and platform team at Microsoft SA. "We cross-skilled them into the technology field and this provided them with the opportunity to be trainers at the science centres."
The graduates were tested before the training to assess their initial skills in basic software applications such as Microsoft Word, Windows and Excel, and that showed they had a lower level of competence than expected. The training programme had to be changed to cater for that lack of skills.
The graduates and postgraduates were now learning the latest computer technologies and receiving higher levels of professional training as well as being given real-world skills to make them more employable, said Ives.
Some of the graduates are being taught information technology skills so they can support and maintain computer science centres across the country. Others are being taught communication skills so they can raise the public's understanding of science and technology and develop a website to market the centres.
"We see this initiative really helping the youth of SA to participate in the knowledge economy, and to significantly raise the level of information and communication technology skills among our young people. The bottom line is to make our youth more employable," Ives said.
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