Schneider Electric South Africa, together with the French Ministry of Education and the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), has launched a training centre which aims to prepare young South Africans from disadvantaged backgrounds for the job market. The first intake of students was enrolled in April 2012.
From left: Professor Moutlana,vice chancellor, VUT; Jacques Lapouge, Ambassador of France; Carl Kleynhans, Schneider Electric South Africa country president; Professor Louw, deputy vice chancellor, VUT.
The French-South African Schneider Electric Education Centre offers a well equipped, state of the art facility fitted with Schneider Electric educational systems. It has been designed not only to assist the underprivileged to become a viable part of the local workplace, but also to allow professionals in the workplace to develop their skills further. It will provide a number of programmes in the field of energy, electricity, automation and renewable energies, from basic certification right through to advanced certifications that are equivalent to university graduate and postgraduate level studies. Schneider Electric kitted the centre out with the power supply, home automation, automation and renewable energy equipment needed for training and research.
Schneider Electric will place qualified students into a working environment so that they can be mentored by a qualified artisan for six months. In addition, the French Ministry of Education has committed to find placements for qualified experts for more than three years.
“We truly believe that the centre will be instrumental in increasing our local skills pool, empowering graduates to start their own businesses and, ultimately creating broader employment opportunities,” says Carl Kleynhans, Schneider Electric South Africa country president.
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