In an effort to bridge the gap between students and employers, a local start-up incubator is set to launch a technology and entrepreneurship centre in February 2021.
Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Launchlab has collaborated with the SU School for Data Science and Computational Thinking in the launch of the Techpreneurship Centre, which will offer students a six-week coding and entrepreneurship programme. This was stated in an announcement by SU, on 23 September.
Applications for the programme opened on 1 October and will close on 15 November, said Keenan Stewart, senior service delivery manager at LaunchLab.
“Our mission is to address the high youth unemployment rate and digital skills gap that exists in South Africa, by harnessing synergies that exist between technology and entrepreneurship,” said Stewart.
Students who complete the programme will be offered a fixed-term internship with a startup or industry partner, said Stewart. Any student with a preference towards engineering, data science or economics can apply, he said.
“[Applicants] need to understand the fundamentals of object-orientated programming as they will be required to complete a coding challenge to be considered for the programme,” Stewart said.
According to Stewart, there will be no costs associated with the course and 20 students will be accepted for the first cohort. Thereafter, 40 students would be accepted in June 2021, followed by 60 students in February 2022, he said.
In the modern economic climate, it is essential to be able to network and have a firm understanding of technology and its role in the working world, said Terence Clarkson, final-year BAcc student at SU.
“For a final-year student, I find the ability to diversify and have access to a digital and entrepreneurial skills development programme, to be extremely beneficial in sculpting individuals to be ready to tackle the working world,” said Clarkson.
Stuart McIntyre, an engineering student at SU, said that this initiative is ideal for getting graduates who are interested in coding into the growing market.
“The issue of getting academics employed has been around forever and there is no better way to bridge this gap than giving graduates the ability to gain practical skills and experiences with potential job opportunities,” he said.
