A new partnership involving Microsoft, the Public Service Education and Training Authority (Pseta) and Afrika Tikkun will see more than 2 000 South Africans in each of the country's nine provinces equipped with digital skills.

The partnership, which extends the reach of the Microsoft Global Skilling Initiative, launched in 2020, brings access to critical digital skills for about 20 000 youth across the country through learning initiatives until the end of the year.

The initiative builds on the Microsoft Global Skilling Initiative launched in June last year to equip 25-million people in 249 countries and territories with the digital skills needed in a Covid-19 economy.

The group surpassed this goal by five- million.

In South Africa, 300 000 learners gained access, by the end of 2020, to digital skills such as software development, data analysis and customer service specialisation.

“When we announced the initiative last June, our aim was to bring digital skills to people worldwide and this was in direct response to the global pandemic,” says Microsoft South Africa MD Lillian Barnard.

People are returning to an increasingly digital economy, where a workplace is more hybrid. It must be acknowledged that the postpandemic world will look very different and there is a need to ensure digital fluency by skilling, reskilling and upskilling people, she explains.

The initiative will offer free access to content, taught by industry experts, through LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn and the GitHub Learning Lab, with hands-on experience and the opportunity to obtain low-cost Microsoft-recognised certifications aligned to ten of the most in-demand jobs.

“Research has found that the most critical future skills that businesses will continue to require in the next five years are all digital, with data analysts, data scientists and machine learning specialists topping the list of the most in-demand roles,” continues Barnard.

“We want to make sure we support the learning paths for these in-demand roles,” she says, noting the need to improve the employability of the country’s youth.

The partnership will harness the individual and collective capabilities of each of the partners to provide the support needed to access the training.

Afrika Tikkun is hosting and facilitating access to the portal where young people can register, undergo an assessment and start on their identified learning pathways.

While the resources are broadly available, job seekers from underprivileged communities in more remote areas need additional support on their journey, as many do not have access to opportunities.

In October last year, Microsoft South Africa provided a R2.5-million grant to the youth development nonprofit organisation, which helps young people from underserved South African communities through its holistic cradle-to-career model that includes skills development and work readiness programmes.

This grant was used to extend the provision of digital skills to more South Africans by recruiting job seekers into the Global Skills Initiative programme; assessing job seekers to determine the best learning pathway for them, as well as supporting and incentivising them to access and complete at least one learning pathway; enrolling and helping job seekers with formal certification; and sourcing work experience, job placement and entrepreneurial opportunities.

“South Africa’s youth, particularly those from underserved communities, have borne the brunt of the economic crisis precipitated by the pandemic,” says Afrika Tikkun Services CEO Onyinye Nwaneri.

The unemployment rate has increased to 32.5%, with 7.2-million people unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2020, many of them being youth desperate to gain future-ready, relevant skills that will help make them more employable.

“Finding ways and forging meaningful collaborations to empower South Africa’s youth with the skills they need to effectively navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a key priority for the South African government, and collaborating with private-sector partners including corporates and civil society is critical to equip and prepare our youth for the workplaces of the future,” says Pseta CEO Bontle Lerumo.

Pseta will support unemployed learners to access the learning opportunity and promote the initiative through its networks to ensure that as many unemployed learners as possible have free access to the best resources to improve knowledge and capabilities.

This includes leveraging partnerships with other public-sector entities in opening up access to libraries, computer labs, community halls and Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges, as well as assisting with the connectivity needed to participate in and complete the training and certifications that will enhance their employability by bringing them into the digital economy.