Skills for Success
Overview
Today, the rapid production, exchange, and analysis of information has profoundly affected the ways in which society functions. Within this context, the Information Technology (IT) sector is booming. Companies are investing more in IT services, as the management and exchange of information has become essential to both internal and external business operations across sectors. At the same time, educators charged with teaching IT must ensure that the material being taught reflects the constant innovations and changes in the IT sector. Finally, young people need IT skills both as foundational skills for virtually any job and, in more specialized areas, for jobs in the IT sector.
This project will work with the African Center for Women in ICT (ACWICT) in Kenya, the Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF) in Nigeria, and two TVET college (College of Cape Town and False Bay) in South Africa to provide 1000 young people, primarily young women, between the ages of 18 – 25 with the training needed to secure jobs, learnerships and other livelihood opportunities in the IT sector through obtaining the Google IT certificate as well as wrap around services including soft skills and job placement services. For the 1000 young women and men who receive the Google IT certificate and job placement support, they will be on a path to long-term success in the labor force. In addition, it is IYF’s hope and intention to make this one-year pilot program so successful that all stakeholders recognize the need for continued support – to benefit additional young women and help influence workforce training systems that promote digital fluency in response to market needs. To support this vision, IYF intends to identify and secure matching grants to increase the program’s overall reach and impact.
