Huawei has awarded bursaries to 15 students in the faculty of engineering studying at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), Gauteng, South Africa.
Huawei’s public and communications affairs director for east and central Africa, Dang Wang, said the decision to sponsor the students is a result of the scarcity of qualified students in the sector in South Africa.
The company added that the sponsorship is a pilot phase as the company aims to raise skill levels in the ICT sector.
Wang said: “After several attempts to recruit students from the institution for internships, we realised that there were very few pupils who chose telecoms as a major and we saw this as an opportunity to intervene.
“This sponsorship will be a pilot phase and Huawei hopes this opportunity will be seized by the students and hopefully raise the skills bar in the institution as far as ICT is concerned.”
Sipho Themba, from the faculty of engineering at the university, said the sponsorship would provide a morale boost for students wishing to venture into the telecommunications sector and help bridge the digital divide.
“Majority of the students major in electricity because locally they are more exposed to opportunities in the sector,” said Themba.
According to the World Economic Forum’s global information technology report released last month South Africa was rated number 70 out of 144 countries surveyed, with the quality of education dragging down the poorly performing countries.
Wang added: “We already see this being a fruitful investment, the TUT’s engineering students have one of the greatest potentials we’ve seen in the institutions we’ve collaborated with. We pride ourselves in bridging the digital divide locally, and there is no better place to invest than in young talent.”
