The George Youth Centre recently held the opening of their brand new tech lab at their premises which aims to improve the digital literary skills of the youth of George.
The Western Cape Department of Social Development in collaboration with Eskom and the Southern Cape Film Youth Festival (SUFF) started the tech lab initiative late in 2018 to – assist the youth of George in improving their work readiness and employability.
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) started with basic computer training that is accredited, as well as small business training.
The aim of the basic computer training is to understand digital identity and the safeguarding of your information. The basic training takes two weeks to complete.
Cllr Gerrit Pretorius, Speaker of George Council, said he is delighted and proud to be part of such an event. He is proud of George and the Western Cape that is a forerunner in this initiative and indicated that he will do his utmost to assist the youth centre further.
Pretorius is also Ward Councillor for Ward 22 that is mostly made up of rural areas. He said he would want to make these opportunities available to rural youth, as it is unfair to miss out on these opportunities because of a lack of transport.
Brand new tech lab at George Youth Café
He reminded the youth that they need to strive and persist to achieve greatness. Remember Microsoft and Google didn’t just happen, Bill Gates had to work thousands of hours to achieve what he did.
He got a chuckle from the youth attending when he said the first computer he saw was in 1980 called the St. Claire and had a memory of 1KB.
Liz Dekker from Eskom who sponsored the container, 20 laptops and software for the tech lab said they had a plan for this lab and she is very proud of what was achieved. She hopes the George Youth Café will go from strength to strength.
Lionel Arnolds from the Department of Social Development thanked everyone involved for the solid partnerships. He said the department’s goal is to make the programmes of the Youth Café part of the IDP’s (Integrated Development Plan) of municipalities.
He said we are digital citizens living in a global village and life is easier for those understanding technology, especially young people who would wish to further their studies. He wished the youth café well with its endeavour.
Image: Speaker of the George Municipality, Cllr Gerrit Pretorius and Liz Dekker from Eskom cut the ribbon at the opening of the tech lab at the George Youth Café. With them are Annique Arries from SUFF and Lionel Arnolds from the Department of Social Development.
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