BEE training initiative launched

21.02.2005
Von Theo Boshoff

At the annual CentraTel reseller dinner held last week at Kyalami, De Wet Snyders, group marketing manager for CentraTel, announced that the CentraTel Telecommunications Academy is launching a new BEE-focused initiative.

The initiative is known as the Economic Empowerment Training division. and will, according to Snyders, cater exclusively to the needs of previously disadvantaged individuals (PDIs) within the reseller community, in the areas of telecommunications, ICT and office automation.

"PDIs within reseller companies will be offered the opportunity to attend training at the CentraTel Telecommunications Academy at discounted rates of up to 100 percent on selected courses. These discounts are dependent on the level of experience and training that the attendee requires," says Snyders.

However, he notes that the discounted training will only be offered to reseller companies that plan to do business with the company and possibly sell its solutions.

The project is headed by Nick Zaranyika, from CentraTel"s BEE arm, Masakhe, a telecoms equipment reseller in the CentraTel Group. Zaranyika says that the major aim of this initiative is to populate the skills base with trained resources who do not always have the opportunity to obtain official training.

According to the company, courses ranging from the well-known Telecoms 101 - Introduction to Telecommunications in South Africa - to the advanced VoIP technical installation and maintenance qualification will be offered. Additionally, small business courses will be added to the Academy"s offerings.

"We are enhancing the Telecoms 101 course to include basic business skills and hope to extend the reach of the programme over and above the reseller base and to offer this to reseller customers as well," says Zakanyika.

He concludes by saying that, through the EE Training Division, the company must ensure genuine skills transfer to benefit not only employees, but businesses and the entire telecommunications industry.