New initiative to build ICT skills for South Africa’s unemployed youth

Empowering unemployed youth with skills in areas such as cybersecurity, robotics, coding, content creation, and software and application development, is at the heart of a three-year agreement between the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA)

With more than 65 percent of the country’s youth unemployed, the government has prioritised interventions to provide young people with the skills and tools they need to thrive in the digital world. The agreement between the DSI and MICT SETA, signed last week, aims to build capacity in ICT for unemployed youth in South Africa.

The MICT SETA CEO, Mr Matome Madibana, and the Director-General of the DSI, Dr Phil Mjwara, who signed the agreement, believe the initiative will go a long way towards equipping young people with skills needed for the future.

“This partnership reflects our commitment to fostering skills development in the MICT sector, which is imperative for creating new sources of income and employment for young South Africans,” said Mr Madibana. “This is another milestone for the MICT SETA, and we intend to grow our digital footprint and leverage technologies that create value, deliver new services, innovate and adapt to the rapidly changing environment, through our young people.”

Dr Mjwara was confident that the initiative would unlock the potential of young people, particularly in townships and rural communities, who are eager to embrace new technologies. “No communities should be left behind in the skills revolution, digital economy and 4IR era,” said Dr Mjwara.

The two parties are working on a framework to guide the roll-out of the skills programme through learning facilities around the country, including Living Labs, mLab Southern Africa centres, and other DSI-funded education facilities.

The DSI will fund the establishment of innovation support infrastructure under the Living Labs Programme, while the MICT SETA will fund the skills development programmes.

Issued by the Department of Science and Innovation and the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority