Popular music video TV channel Trace has made skills training for South African youth app-accessible, with the launch of its free online learning platform in the local market.
Called Trace Academia, the platform is a mobile app that offers free training related to the human and technical skills of the trades of today and tomorrow.
It is an online course app that combines entertainment and training to create a “unique and cost-effective” educational experience, according to Trace.
Due to the country’s high youth unemployment rate, Trace says it was important to introduce the Trace Academia project as a gateway to empower young people to stand up and shine.
Latest data from Statistics SA shows the country’s unemployment rate increased to 32.6% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 32.5% in the last quarter of 2020. The stats further show the official unemployment rate among youth (15-34 years) was 46.3% in quarter one of 2021.
Trace says: “Trace Academia is a free online vocational training platform built for young South Africans looking to build their skills to find or create jobs. Created in response to the high rate of youth unemployment in South Africa and the continent, Trace Academia will focus on empowerment through educating and training young people.”
Trace Academia was officially unveiled in SA last week in the presence of French minister for gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities, Elisabeth Moreno, and South African partners.
Trace outlines that the Trace Academia courses are created in collaboration with leading companies, institutions and experts, to ensure the skills provided are well matched to market needs.
It offers vocational training, entrepreneurial courses, soft skills and well-being courses, social learning features, as well as job information.
According to Trace, a localised, interactive and entertaining course format will be used to help keep the learner’s attention and improve course completion rate.
Some of the locally-produced training courses featured include the ‘Get Started with Digital Marketing’ course enabled by Grow with Google, Trace’s ‘How to Become a DJ’ course, Schneider Electric’s ‘Spark your Interest in Electricity’, Valued Citizens and the University of Johannesburg’s ‘Become a Successful Entrepreneur’, Leroy Merlin’s ‘Become a Real Handyman’ and the Durex ‘Own Your Situation’ course.
Trace Academia will take the learner through the journey towards skill acquisition, states Trace. “Trace Academia will primarily target young South Africans in its inaugural year.”
Olivier Laouchez, Trace co-founder and executive chairman, adds: “To build Trace Academia, we've combined our expertise and experience in entertainment with cutting edge learning approaches adapted to the realities and cultures of Africa.
“The young people we have worked with in building the platform find the content highly engaging. In fact, in a recent study of 17- to 25-year-olds in SA, Kenya and Nigeria, 96% said the app would motivate them to further their education or improve their employment prospects. We believe Trace Academia has the potential to positively impact the lives of millions of young people in South Africa and across the continent.”
The launch also saw the signing of a protocol of cooperation between Trace, Senghor University in Egypt, and Agence Française de Développement (AFD), to create a training programme to develop and support the ‘professionalisation’ of the creative and cultural sector in Africa.
AFD's financing of €650 000 will cover a training course dedicated to understanding the challenges of the sector and providing workable solutions. The learning content of the training is to be developed through this partnership between Senghor University in Egypt, Trace and Campus AFD, AFD’s training centre.
Trace reveals Trace Academia is also set to be launched across the rest of the world by the end of this year, with more courses to be produced with leading companies, institutions and experts globally.
The Trace Academia app is available for download on iOS and Android.
For more information, click here.
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