Cisco is making available free training on ICT skills courses to students and citizens across the African continent. All students who successfully complete the courses will receive a certificate from Cisco.

In the wake of multiple governments’ response to the impact of Covid-19, calling for the shutdown of educational institutions, Cisco decided to provide everyone the opportunity to carry on learning and take advantage of the time during lockdown.

School closures have impacted over 72% of students globally. As missing school for a long period ordinarily regresses learners’ development, idling during lockdown would be a disservice to oneself. Cisco has therefore made available the training recourses available for learners interested in careers in ICT to develop their skills in preparation for success in the increasingly digital future.

“The online training which we have made available to anyone, for free, represents our love for education and our commitment to equipping people with the relevant ICT skills in order to be participants and key players in the fourth industrial revolution,” says Garsen Naidu, country manager: South Africa at Cisco.

The online training by Cisco’s Networking Academy can be done at an individual’s own pace. The different trainings cover entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, IoT and more. Courses on offer are: Digital Literacy Get Connected , Intro to Cybersecurity , Intro to, Internet of Things, Linux Unhatched, Linux Essentials, Essentials In Python as well as Entrepreneurship.

Cisco strongly believes in fuelling futures by empowering people with digital and technical education. Even in the face of a pandemic, hope for the future remains alive and the education of tomorrow’s bright minds and innovators is vital. Just because schools have closed, it doesn’t mean learning has to cease.

“Who better than Cisco to facilitate the continuity of education for all through remote learning?” Naidoo adds. “We have the infrastructure to make distance learning possible. From the technologies to connect, communicate, and engage, to the network infrastructure to support millions of students learning online and even the provision of security on our products and solutions, we are best positioned to enable this.”

Covid-19 has taught the world some key lessons about its capability of moving things forward despite the perceived barriers as a result of the pandemic. Things we dreamed of but thought to be impracticable have come to be our present day reality. The work force is successfully working remotely and leaners are successfully distance learning.

The continuity of education is vital as ever in the realisation of digital transformation as we edge towards 4IR despite the uncertainty we currently face during this pandemic. With its various free ICT skills courses, Cisco is ensuring that, in the meantime, people are able to learn from home, virtually and securely, to prepare for careers in the digital economy.