Computer school focuses on post-lockdown reopening
The school offers South Durban residents introductory-level computer skills training, covering eight units of the national certificate: information technology and end-user computing qualification.
ENGEN Computer School is firmly focused on resuming classes when the lockdown ends, ensuring the first intake of 2020 students pass and are afforded an opportunity to follow the shining example of two recent graduates of the course.
Classes were halted in late March when government announced the nationwide stay-at-home, leaving the first class of the year six weeks short of completing their studies.
“The skills training will continue as soon as classes are allowed to convene again to ensure that the 80 students, who started their studies on 18 January, graduate,” said the manager of transformation and stakeholder engagement, Unathi Magida.
“With already high levels of unemployment and further expected impact on the jobs market in a post-Covid-19 world, we believe that upskilling is of paramount importance to boost one’s chances of securing employment.”
Over the past decade, the computer skills training school, which is free of charge, has transformed many lives in South Durban, with over 2 000 graduates having their prospects of finding employment positively enhanced.
The school offers three four-month courses per year, each accommodating 80 people, with the petroleum company investing about R15 000 per student.
Ayanda Khambule and Precious Shezi, who both graduated last year, are shining examples of the benefits formal computer training can bring.
Course convener and training director of Added Advantage Academy, Sheryl Casalis, said Ayanda and Precious were working part-time at Oxford Freshmarket on the Bluff while studying at the school in 2019. Both have since secured full-time positions at the store as supervisors.
“I was delighted when they confirmed that the many skills that they learned at the centre equipped them to complete the administrative tasks that they now do in the office,” she said.
“With over 2 000 graduates over the past 10 years, the school has given each student the knowledge and confidence to go out and seek jobs that would otherwise never have been possible.”
The school offers South Durban residents introductory-level computer skills training, covering eight units of the national certificate: information technology and end-user computing qualification. To enroll, applicants must be unemployed school-leavers and reside in South Durban.
While matric and age criteria are not prescribed, most students who attend the school are aged from 20 to 40. The computer centre is well known in South Durban and almost always has a waiting list of people wanting to upskill themselves.
“Engen is both proud and humbled to play a small role in positively changing lives of community members who reside in an area close to the Engen Refinery.
With high-levels of poverty and unemployment in South Africa, we are cognisant of the fact that corporates need to support government to provide sustainable solutions. As such, we are committed to stepping up and doing the right thing, starting with paying special attention to the people in the communities in which we operate, ” Magida added.
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