Mobile computer classrooms provide training

Nzabela Mobile Computer Training will unleash Nzabela Mobile Computers (Container) in Tembisa, Gauteng.

This will be in partnership with BasadiPele Skills Development and Training, WeThinkCode and the City of Ekurhuleni.

Founder of the non-profit Nzabela Mobile Computer Training Landile Xandekana said the month-long programme will kick off on March 5 at no cost to the youth.

“This rural, semi-urban community initiative will empower individuals by providing access to online information, teaching those skills necessary to access and use the information. This will also promote equal access to computers and internet for everyone in the community,” said Xandekana.

Xandekana said Nzabela Mobile Computer Training states that these courses are accredited and assessed by the Media, Information & Communication Technologies Sector Education & Training Authority (MICT SETA).

The learners will, therefore, receive an NQF level 4 certificate at the end of the course (with the appropriate credits for each part of the course).

“Another partnership that learners must look forward to is with Microsoft South Africa together with Alex FM. These organisations have made sure that the community gets to benefit from this life-changing initiative.

“Disadvantaged and underserved people in South Africa often lack access to essential services. As a result, one of the main priorities of the Government since 1994 has been to extend the quality and range of essential services from previously advantaged segments of South Africa to townships, informal settlements, and rural areas,” explained Xandekana.

“In the past, ICT access was not considered an essential service, however with the evolving global community and the increasing demand for technical and ICT entrepreneurs, there is an increasing recognition that universal services should go beyond the provision of telephonic services and include more advanced digital services.

“The South African government has made attempts to provide access to ICT and ICT Skills Development in the form of part-time and permanent access points.

“Some of the access points include Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCCs), Telecentres, Cyber labs, Personal Information Terminals (PITs), Department of Communication Web Internet Laboratories (DoCWILs), Citizen’s Post Offices (CPOs), as well as public libraries.

“The majority of these centres in rural areas remain underutilized mainly due to costs associated with the use of ICT services, difficulties in accessing these facilities as a result of the sparsely populated nature of rural settlements, as well as lack of computer training.”

Xandekana said Nzabela Mobile Computer Training has identified the challenges faced by the rural & semi-urban population of South Africa and proposed a very cost effective initiative to address these challenges.

“We are proposing the roll-out of a mobile classroom where learners can get quality computer training from experienced facilitators at no cost to them. The classrooms will feature 12m long containers on wheels, each with 6 desk spaces to accommodate 18 learners at a time.

“One of the major advantages of these classroom units is the fact that they can be moved from one place to the next, bringing training to the rural population without having to travel long distances and spend a lot of money, which they do not have, to access them. By so doing transforming dreams into reality.”

For more information on the Nzabela Mobile Computer Training services send an email to landile.x@gmail.com