Cisco, an international and specialist leader in IT networking has teamed up with the national department of education to accelerate the development of critical networking skills in the country.
As part of its corporate social responsibility programme, Cisco has created a facility called Networking Academy Programme (NAP) to teach learners to acquire skills on how to design, build and maintain computer networks.
NAP head Alfie Hamid said the training is part of the e-learning curriculum that provides support for IT as a learning area. He said it is an effective, interactive programme that teaches desktop skills.
Experts have indicated that the country faces a serious technical skills shortage and that if this is not urgently addressed it may result in delays of major development and capital projects.
The study commissioned by Cisco, in partnership with International Data Corporation, confirmed this. It warned that ‘unless the networking skills shortage is addressed urgently, by 2009 demand for the skills in South Africa will exceed supply by 24%”.
This, the study showed, would lead to ‘a shortage of more than 113 900 skilled people, which would severely hinder economic growth”.
With 44 academies in the country that produce 3 200 graduates annually, Hamid is positive Cisco would do its bit to help reduce the shortfall.
Hamid said the economic growth that the country is experiencing would ‘fuel the demand for advanced ICT technologies”. He said NAP would continue to produce more graduates particularly because ‘government has outlined the ICT sector as a critical enabler to deliver on the Asgisa initiative”.
Education Minister Naledi Pandor welcomed Cisco’s initiative. Addressing the company’s 10th anniversary commemoration, Pandor said: ‘The availability of skills, especially in the ICT sector, is a basic component of future prosperity. The Cisco Networking Academy Programme will assist government in pushing more and more young people into the exciting field of information technology.”
At the moment, most high schools that are benefiting from the initiative are based in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, where they are linked with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. In Gauteng, only the University of Pretoria offers the course.
But Hamid said Cisco wanted to expand the programme to other schools, particularly in disadvantaged rural communities. ‘There are a few schools that offer subjects on this, but most of them are well-resourced,” said Hamid.
He said learners who completed matric could enroll for the course, after which they could proceed to a university. He said in instances where they cannot go to university, they would still have ‘a competitive edge” over others as qualifications accredited by Cisco are ‘highly sought-after in the world”.
Hamid said in keeping with the company’s culture of equality and to promote inclusive education, it is considering the accommodation of learners with special needs.
National and provincial education departments place high value on computer literacy and have spent millions of rands in providing schools with computer network infrastructure.
Although the digital divide is still wide, a fair number of learners and teachers in most schools have basic knowledge of how a computer operates. And this should make it easy for learners who want to pursue studies in networking.
‘NAP provides an excellent model for successful public-private partnerships between business, government and educational institutions, as it enables the right skills to get out to the market quickly and cost-effectively,” said Hamid.