With the current onset of the fourth industrial revolution, also referred to as industry 4.0, which is significantly different from the ones that already led it, information and communication technologies and engineering, are without a doubt an essential driving force for the industry 4.0 to be recognised.
Tshwane South College students in Pretoria gathered at O.R Tambo International Airport this morning (12 April) as they were preparing to jet off to China. They are amongst the students jetting off to China for a 12-month internship programme in ICT and engineering. The college is among other TVET colleges that were chosen to participate in this internship programme.
“This is an opportunity that will open doors for almost most South Africans, because technology is something that still lacks. This will help us as student so that when we come back to South Africa we can bring with the knowledge we have gained and new innovation,” said an IT student Morongwa Fache remarking on what she would like to do after the 12-months internship.
The internships are fully funded and supported by the Chinese Culture and International Exchange Centre, in partnership with Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA). SETA has built a strong relationship with TVET colleges in South Africa to promote the growth of work-based learning opportunities and produce work ready graduates.
During the sent off at the airport, acting CEO of Construction SETA, Robert Semenya, said that SETA has a mandate to facilitate and fund skills development. One of the skills development areas that must be funded and facilitated is the internships and workplace learning.
“What we have noticed through research is that in South Africa for a long time dating back to 2011, there has been a clarion call by the former minister of higher education and training that employers must open work ready placements, so that we can record many young people in the industries. But we then realised that as the seta we are unable to get employers to open work places so we started looking outside the country and one of the countries identified was china”.
“This is an exciting moment as we see a group of 51 students going to china,” he added.
A proud IT lecturer at Tshwane South College, Maphoso Sello added that apart from the issue that they going to China for their own good, he would appreciate that the students come back to the campus to inspire and encourage aspiring graduate to work hard.
China has been recognised as one of the countries that made hasty advancement in areas such as Information Technology and engineering. It is being acclaimed for being a world leader in technology.
