A total of 25 rural KwaZulu-Natal students – all of them recent school-leavers – have successfully completed NQF Level 4 learnerships in ICT technical support, an invaluable qualification given the current employment crisis.
The programme is the result of a partnership between Bytes People Solutions and HP. HP Business Institute, an enterprise development initiative driven primarily through skills development, approached Bytes People Solutions asking the company to run a 12-month learnership programme in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
“We investigated a variety of options around the greater Durban area and identified The Valley of a Thousand Hills, which lies between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, as a prime location for the learnership programme,” says Wayne Smith, coastal branches executive, Bytes People Solutions. “It is a rural region that lies close enough to urban areas to enable leaners to commute to places of work, making it more sustainable than options that might have required leaners to relocate.”
The learnership programme comprises four months of theoretical training followed by eight months of practical workplace experience. Fundamental skills include guidance on being an effective team member, conducting meetings, writing skills and telephone skills. The technical skills component introduces learners to computer hardware, operating systems, networks and help desk technology.
“One of the biggest challenges for school leavers is gaining work experience,” says Smith. “This programme has the dual benefit of providing an opportunity to learn and do practical work at the same time. Once our learners are certified, they are far more marketable in the workplace. Now that this particular group of 25 has their certificates, they have a far greater chance of finding employment.
“HP has supported this type of IT training for many years, and it is a privilege for Bytes People Solutions to partner with them to provide this level of skills development for unemployed youth.”