Johannesburg – Telkom through its foundation and in partnership with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, handed over a a community lab as well as a community-led coding programme towards the upliftment of the Alice community.
This took place at the Raymond Mhlaba centenary closing ceremony organised by The Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in the Eastern Cape province.
Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, last year declared 2020 the Year of Raymond Mhlaba and Vuyisiole Mini – local icons of the struggle for liberation who were born 100 years ago.
The closing ceremony was concluded with key milestones, including the launch of the Raymond Mhlaba Digital Skills Development Programme, hand-over of a fully equpped computer lab at Healdtown High School, opening of Alice Library and the Raymond Mhlaba Council Chamber; and hosting of a Memorial Lecture dedicated to the life and legacy of Raymond Mhlaba – affectionately known as Oom Ray, and pledges of support towards a youth-owned Legacy Project.
As part of the Digital Skills Development Programme, Telkom has identified 25 unemployed youth aged between 18-35 with IT background from the community to partake in a month-long coding programme.
The 25 youth will be provided with laptops and software. The company has also donated a fully fitted computer lab and a comprehensive educational content platform to enhance digital skills and online learning at Healdtown High School in Fort Beaufort.
Telkom will also support teacher education on the use of the technology and devices and the required connectivity to run the lab. with educational content and with which it will supply connectivity,
“The Telkom Foundation’s mission is rooted in meaningful and sustainable community upliftment and development, said Sarah Mthintso – Head of Telkom Foundation.
“This is how we wanted to design our Train-the-Trainer coding programme. We didn’t want to just supply hardware, software and internet, and then walk away. It is going to be key to impart transferrable knowledge and skills as well as well post-training support in order to empower the youth identified in a meaningful way and in order for them to be able to train up others in their community. To the end, we will be giving the candidates the opportunity to become teachers after their training and we will assist them accordingly. Ideally, they should be able to take the skills and knowledge forward and help others in their community.”
“Government and industry need to work together to bridge the digital gap. There can never be a meaningful fourth industrial revolution if our people are not connected and a capable 4IR army if there are no skills,” added Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams – Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Service.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
