Visually impaired youths graduate at TUT Mbombela
Fifteen young people participated in a skills development course at the TUT Mbombela Campus.
The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Mbombela Campus, in collaboration with SboBlessed Consulting, gave 15 visually impaired young people from Nsikazi an opportunity to compete in the workforce with vast skills development.
The participants, identified from the Mpumalanga Blind Skills Development Hub based in Pienaar, graduated from the TUT Skills Development Programme for People with Disabilities during a graduation ceremony at the campus on Friday, November 8.
They participated in a basic computer literacy course of two to three weeks to enhance their skills.
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The director of transformation employment equity and diversity at TUT, Dr Khosana Tladi, said this programme forms part of the transformation of community engagement and upliftment at areas served by the university. “We made an analysis that young people should be trained in courses such as safety and health, communication and language and computer literacy, and this programme aims to help those who cannot take a fully fledged course. This is a continuous project that we started three years ago, rotating at all TUT campuses. We want to ensure that the skills we have in the university are available for everyone outside the university as well, for their benefit and upliftment. We hope the new graduates put their qualifications into good use and penetrate the workforce,” he said.
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One of the graduates, Nomfundo Nkosi, said she is excited to enter the market with her qualification. She said she became visually impaired in 2020 after falling ill and being hospitalised.
“One thing I always say is that I am able. I am not disabled as the world identifies us. I can do anything just like anyone who has all their senses working. I am proud of myself that I managed to listen and apply myself to pass this course. I would like to make a call to the community to stop discriminating against people who are living with less than the norm. We are capable of anything,” Nkosi said.
