FET (Further Education and Training) Colleges Accredited By Microsoft

FIFTY colleges of Further Education and Training (FET) will become accredited Microsoft Information Technology (IT) Academies so that students can receive internationally accredited training and certifications in addition to local qualifications.

The agreement to introduce the training in all of SA's FETs was signed last week by Microsoft and the communications department's Meraka e-Skills Institute. The aim is to give students some skills that will increase their immediate chance of employment and to give them a foundation to pursue further studies in the field. The curriculum will be designed to give students the chance to experience real-world challenges in the classroom, with courses due to start next year.

SA's IT and telecoms industries had 37565 vacancies at the end of last year, according to the labour department's National Scarce Skills report.

There was a clear need to improve the employment prospects of citizens and raise the level of information and communication technologies (ICT) skills in SA, said Harold Wesso, acting CEO of the Meraka e-Skills Institute.

"We hope the FET colleges will become a breeding ground for highly skilled ICT professionals, and create a pool of trainers who are capable of training future generations," he said.

Microsoft will supply all the training materials and will ensure that all the trainers are fully certified.

David Ives, head of the developer team at Microsoft SA, said the students would access the latest computer technologies and receive high levels of training, making them more employable.

Relevant Links www.courses.co.za

"We'll also provide courses and certification to the unemployed, people with disabilities and older workers at government- or Microsoft-subsidised rates," he said.

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