The Rockefeller Foundation has provided the South African BPO and contact centre industry association, BPeSA, with a grant of R3,7-million for a skills development initiative set to provide training to thousands of disadvantaged youth across the country.
Known as Gaming Environment for Online Recruitment and Career Empowerment in South Africa (GEFORCE SA), the initiative uses game mechanics as a key motivator for promoting learning content.
Users of the platform will get involved in the workings of the BPO industry in a playful and inclusive manner, to be achieved through various games components with appealing and engaging graphics and animation.
The initiative will focus on three core areas of career awareness, talent and skill identification and job placements.
“Skills development is major focus area for the BPO industry. If the industry keeps growing at its current rate, there could potentially be a shortage of staff which would have a serious impact on new investment coming into the country. Gamification consists of a platform that can help us reach thousands of learners in a relatively short space of time, which is what we aim to capitalise on. The Rockefeller Foundation has seen the potential of this industry, and we are excited to have them on board as we pursue more opportunities in the industry,” says Gareth Pritchard, CEO of BPeSA.
The BPO/Contact centre industry in South Africa employs over 210,000 people and is one of the major sources of employment for the country’s youth market. It is anticipated that the project will reach about 15% of the total talent pool in South Africa, thereby playing a key role in the development of the industry.
“We are delighted to be partnering with BPeSA to expand opportunities for South Africa’s disadvantaged youth by building the critical digital skills required to prepare them for the jobs of today and the future. Through our Digital Jobs Africa initiative we are working with a number of organisations in South Africa to grow this industry and have aligned all these projects to ensure they have the maximum impact on the skills landscape in South Africa.
“Though Gamification is still a relatively new concept in South Africa, it is one that will benefit an increasingly tech savvy talent pool, and serves as an ideal platform to train and develop talent on mass,” says Mamadou Biteye, MD of the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office.
Formula D interactive, which specialises in developing innovative learning concepts and products aimed at making education fun and accessible to all South Africans, will be involved in the development of the platform.
GEFORCE SA will be launched in 2015 and will be rolled out across South Africa with a long term strategy to expand into Africa.