Alexandra to get new multimedia training centre

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14 May 2014 News

Construction has begun on a high-tech multimedia training centre for disadvantaged students and community members in Alexandra, Gauteng.

Spearheaded by Altech, together with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Blue Groove Africa and the Alexandra Renewal Project, land adjacent to Minerva High School was identified for the centre, and was donated by the Johannesburg Property Company.

From left: Johan Klein, Group Executive Corporate Services: Altron TMT; Obed Bapela, Deputy Minister in the Presidency: Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation; and Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Deputy Minister of Communications, at the sod turning ceremony marking the start of construction on the Altech Multimedia Training Centre in Alexandra.

The construction of the facility is in response to an approach from Obed Bapela, the Deputy Minister in the Presidency: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation and chairman of the Alexandra Renewal Project, to provide an education facility for the Alexandra community with particular emphasis on providing high school students with access to an information technology centre and resource library.

The vision for the centre is to not only provide a well-equipped resource centre with adequate lighting, desks, chairs and educational supplies to create an environment in which students can learn, but also to establish a high-tech centre that provides students with the technology skills they need to compete in the working world. This includes training on Microsoft Office and access to technical and scientific computer programs such as CAD and Plato. The centre will also be equipped with wireless Internet access.

The day-to-day running of programmes at the centre will be managed by Protec, an NGO that will manage extra tuition classes in mathematics, science, English, computers and life skills for grade 8 to 10 learners from the local community.

The facility falls within the jurisdiction of Ward 76, represented by Councillor Julia Moloi, and the project has been given the thumbs up from the ward and the seven high schools in the area. More than 10 000 students will directly benefit from the project.

In addition to the classes managed by Protec, Altech will also establish additional educational services with other service providers in order to broaden community access, particularly for adult learners, and will be providing learnerships in computer literacy for unemployed youth in the area. These learnerships will be run and managed by Bytes People Solutions.

If all goes according to plan, the facility will be handed over to the community by November 2014.

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Alexandra to get new multimedia training centre

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