Industry shirks skills duty

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 14 Mar 2008

As business leaders, academics and international IT companies joined top government leaders in launching the e-Skills Academy, in Johannesburg yesterday, industry was chastised for not coming to the skills party.

Addressing an audience that included president Thabo Mbeki and communications minister Ivy Matsepi-Casaburri, e-Skills Academy CEO Dan Ellappa said less than 10% of the companies the academy had contacted to get involved in skills training responded positively.

"In three months, only two partners signed up out of more than 20 who were approached," he said. He showed guests at the academy's launch the excuses submitted by the different companies, without disclosing their names.

The excuses ranged from complaints about skilled workers being poached as soon as they qualify, to the cost of training, and the time that is wasted by leaving the office. Ellappa was particularly irritated by questions as to whether the training would contribute to companies' scorecard requirements.

"If we live by the scorecard and we tick boxes, pity us," said Ellappa. "We need to look beyond the scorecard and do as much as we can. We need to dance to a new tune and a new drumbeat."

In his address, Mbeki asked Ellappa to provide him with the list of excuses and company names and said he would assist him in "convincing" people to participate.

According to Mbeki, the e-Skills Academy is a concrete result of partnerships and with such an approach, "it should be possible for us to catch up with global leaders in the fields of science and technology.

"SA has great potential with regard to making the necessary advances in many critical areas that are part of modern technologies," noted Mbeki. "This is because we have a relatively sound technical and scientific infrastructure that allows for further innovation and improvement."

Millions needed

Speaking after the launch, Ellappa said Oracle had donated over R10 million to create the e-Skills Academy. Discussions are still ongoing about what future donations the company would make.

Ellappa needs at least R2 million a year to pay for students' courses. This does not include staff salaries or any overheads, and is based on the principle that companies would pay an additional R2 million for the students they enroll.

ICT companies that have backed the academy so far include IBM, HP, Cisco Systems and NIIT.

The e-Skills Academy is a result of a decision by the Presidential International Council on Information Society and Development last year to address the country's critical skills shortage, and was established in about four months.

According to Matsepi-Casaburri, the speed at which it was established caught some off-guard. "This is not the speed some of us are used to in government."