Youth empowerment central to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

The Youth into Science and Engineering initiative of the South African Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project Office (SASPO) is aimed at encouraging youth participation in science and engineering, particularly targeting young people of Carnarvon, Williston and Van Wyksvlei.

It provides, through the Further Education and Training (FET) bursary, beneficiaries with an opportunity to gain technical skills in the areas of Welding, Plumbing, Electrical, Bricklaying, Carpentry and Motor Mechanic through an accredited FET institute. The project is part of the initiatives of the Human Capital Development programme of SASPO.

SASPO has partnered with the Moremogolo Urban FET institute in this initiative. Due to the low level of interest in the broader youth into science and engineering initiative, the FET training element of the programme was introduced and implemented as a targeted approach. During the implementation phase, which was launched in 2010, the level of interest was minimal and only nine young people from the area (Carnarvon, Williston and Van Wyksvlei) participated in the education project.

Of the nine trainees that were enrolled in 2011, six has been employed at the SKA Project Office, whilst the others will be placed at additional initiatives of the SKA. Sixteen new recruits have been enrolled in the programme for 2012, following a process of submission of 45 applications. This is indeed a significant increase from the interest that was shown in the 2010/2011 period of intake.

Of these sixteen students, four are female and twelve are males. They have started with their training and studies on the 16th April 2012. The bursary that is awarded to these deserving young people is a very comprehensive bursary. In the partnership between SASPO and Moremogolo, the college has secured funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) that will cover the tuition fees of the skills training at the college, PPC safety equipment necessary for training and tuition fees for the N courses to be done at the city campus.

The Northern Cape Provincial Government want to wish these sixteen students all of the best for the period that they will be involved in the training, because you will serve as inspiration for others that must follow. Further upon you rest the responsibility of ensuring that you achieve success, because you have the task of ensuring that the quality of your family lives is improved.

We want to remind them that they are indeed the future of the SKA (South Africa) and other initiatives such as the KAT-7, MeerKAT and pending the outcome of the SKA bid process, the SKA.

It is only through commitment and dedication that you will be able to make a difference. In fact all they need to do is follow the example of the nine students that concluded their training in 2011 and they will achieve significant success.

We wish to further express our appreciation to SASPO and Moremogolo Urban FET College for their commitment towards empowering especially the young people of the area, because it is actually them that must be able to benefit from the investment of the SKA. Obviously not all of them can become scientists, but it is of utmost importance that they become involved in other areas of skills development and capacity building.

The investment of the IDC, through the engagement of the Moremogolo FET, is a positive sign of commitment of institutions like the IDC to contribute towards the empowerment of our youth. We further commend the initiative taken by the FET College, because clearly they are very committed to educating and empowering our youth.