The Gauteng provincial government, in partnership with Microsoft South Africa, celebrated the accomplishment of 40 interns as they graduated from a cloud technology training programme on 9 June at Netcampus in Fourways.
Local government and Microsoft partnered to provide the Microsoft Student2Business initiative, Azure Bootcamp, to upskill youths and provide in-demand technology skills while contributing towards employment opportunities for unemployed youth.
The ceremony had speeches from the various stakeholders involved in the programme, as well as graduates who spoke on the time they had during the course. The initiative was hosted under the Gauteng Centre of Excellence’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) programme which aspires to supply in-demand technology skills while contributing towards employment opportunities for unemployed youth.
MEC for Finance and e-Government, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralenhoko was also present at the ceremony. She said the importance of ICT is crucial for young people to get jobs as there is the growth of technology-based jobs.
She also congratulated the graduates on their results, “It excites me that most of the graduates today passed with distinction. Should we continue with this programme, we will assist a lot of young people. People need training in skills needed like this as they are needed in the country.
“One of our priorities in Gauteng is to mitigate the problem of unemployment, and courses like this are the stepping stone.”
Ofentse Thiketso, graduate and one of the top achievers in the course, thought the two-month course was exciting albeit challenging. “It was really fun and we had a lot of help from the facilitators to make us understand everything easier.
We had everything we needed in the building throughout the time,” he told the Fourways Review.
He said he is still exploring Microsoft Azure and the job opportunities it could bring.
CEO of Netcampus, Tebogo Makgatho also spoke at the ceremony on the course overall.
She applauded the work of those present and said this is the first step of their employment journey. “For the interns, this is just the beginning. We want to encourage everyone to expand their network and take every opportunity they can,” she said.
“I am told, in South Africa right now, 60 per cent of youth is unemployed. Our role is to make sure we close that gap, but we can only do that should we remain in touch with the graduates,” she concluded.
