Artisans graduate from the Ekurhuleni East College
Dewu says this model not only makes the students employable, but also enables them to be employers and create employment for others.
KwaThema – The Ekurhuleni East College held the first graduation ceremony for their learners who have successfully completed skills programme in construction carpentry, ceiling, tiling and flooring, plumbing and glazing at the Ekurhuleni East College, KwaThema, on June 28.
The programme was offered by the college in partnership with Mining Qualification Authority (MQA).
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According to the college’s head of operations, Gardener Dewu, of the 600 students that were registered, 381 graduated.
Speaking about the idea behind the course, Dewu explains that it was to position the learners in a way that not only increases their chances of employment as they already have experience, but also makes sure they are ready to start their own business.
“If these learners come out of the programme, their chances of getting employment is a little bit higher. To strengthen them against failure, we give them a new venture-creation non-accredited programme at the beginning to provide them with enterprise ownership skills.”
Dewu says this model not only makes the students employable, but also enables them to be employers and create employment for others.
“When you look at the training programmes, it’s very easy for someone to graduate from this programme and start their own business or even partner with other students and start a business where they can hire others,” he explains.
The college does not only arm the students with the skills to do the work, but also provides them with a starter kit, which includes the tools they will need for their business.
The school also provides hands-on experience for their students since the maintenance work for the school, such as tiling, is done by the students.
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One such student is Bolekwa Mahobo from KwaThema who heard about the course while submitting her CV for an employment opportunity.
“I was submitting my CV at the Department of Labour for a job when I was selected to be part of the programme.
“I realised that there is no age limit for learning because I was 35 when I started the course and now I have my own glazing business,” she says.
MQA’s acting executive manager of stakeholder relations Bridget Mathebula says they are proud of this life-changing programme.
According to the college’s deputy principal of administration services, Bennita Sisi, MQA assisted them with an injection of R18-million.
“This training intervention was funded through the MQA mining development project, which targets the reskilling of ex-mineworkers and trains unemployed youth and community members in these skills,” says Sisi.
