Forge Academy & Labs, in partnership with Freeport Saldanha, selected 20 young adults for an Upskilling and Practical 4IR Learning Programme at the CHIETA Saldanha Bay Skills Centre in the Western Cape. The 12-month practical learning programme commenced on 24 March 2023.
The programme is affiliated with Yes4Youth equipping unemployed and under-employed youth with necessary skills to be successful in the workplace and a beacon of hope for their households and communities. Forge Academy & Labs is the preferred 4IR training and implementation partner, with plans to establish country-wide training centres like the one in Saldanha Bay. AWS re/Start is a strategic collaborating partner to the initiative supplying needed skills development to unemployed and under-employed youth in the area.
“An African proverb states, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together’. We believe collaborations like these are paramount to pioneering new educational avenues in the ICT sector for our youth to be upskilled and employable,” said Craig Clutty, COO of Forge Academy & Labs.
Over the duration of the programme, selected youth will gain skills necessary to become business analysts and coveted AWS cloud practitioners, receiving relevant qualifications to elicit, analyse, communicate, and validate changes in business processes, policies, and information systems – skills currently on the National Master Scarce Skills list for South Africa.
Accredited and internationally approved facilitators will introduce key terms, rules, concepts, principles, and practices of business analysis, developing core competencies for any Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related occupations. Furthermore, the programme lays the foundation for further higher education studies across various sectors and industries.
“When implementing learning programmes like this, the course material and facilitators must be of a high global standard. We are grateful to have the best of the best equipping and empowering SA youth to be ready for local and international employment opportunities”, said Arthur Wade Anderson, CEO of Forge Academy.
The AWS re/start programme is for learners seeking an overall understanding of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud infrastructure independent of specific technical roles. Students will learn about AWS Cloud concepts, AWS services, security, architecture, pricing, and support to grow their AWS Cloud knowledge base. Furthermore, students get prepared for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.
Students will conclude the learning programme with relevant qualifications on 24 March 2024.
Partners
Yes4Youth and the Freeport Saldanha Industrial Development Zone.
