Nonprofit software development training academy WeThinkCode and the Ekurhuleni West Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College (EWC) have entered into a public-private partnership to pilot a programme that will train youth with no prior coding experience to become software developers.

The pilot will see two cohorts of 50 students learning the WeThinkCode curriculum at the EWC Boksburg TVET campus, extending WeThinkCode's yearly intake of 450.

The pilot's success could herald an era to create a pipeline of thousands of in-demand technical skills yearly across the country, the academy asserted.

South Africa has the highest unemployment rate globally, while its economy faces a severe technical skills shortage.

WeThinkCode provides opportunities for unemployed youth to enter the technology field and the nonprofit sees the collaboration with EWC as an opportunity to further its impact, and to close the gap between unemployed youth with great potential and the market demand for skilled software developers.

"This pilot programme represents a pivotal opportunity to produce digital skills at scale. TVETs have a national footprint and, together with our demand-led coding curriculum, we can deliver thousands of digital skills into our economy and help to lower our youth unemployment rate more rapidly than WeThinkCode could on its own," says WeThinkCode Cape Town campus director and TVET expansion lead Ruvimbo Gwatirisa.

The partnership is an investment critical to shaping South Africa's future in the digital landscape, says EWC business unit ​​partnerships manager Manie Stoltz.

"Through this partnership, WeThinkCode and EWC are not only empowering young minds to become skilled coders, but also enabling them to unlock their full potential and create a brighter future for themselves and their communities. Investment in education is a vital step towards building a better world. WeThinkCode and EWC are paving the way for a generation of innovative thinkers and problem-solvers who will shape our future," he says.

Sustainable skills development is a long-term strategy that requires smart partnerships and much patience. Important and lasting partnerships are the answer to creating the pool and pipeline of digital talent, adds WeThinkCode CEO Nyari Samushonga.

The pilot programme brings together the Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA), Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

"In our seven years of operating, we have demonstrated that some of the best coding skills come from areas not normally associated with technology talent. The proof lies in our 91% post-graduation employment rate and our dedicated corporate partners who trust our ability to deliver top technology skills. The partnership brings this opportunity to more young people and further secures local technology skills pipelines," Samushonga comments.

The programme aims to take best-in-breed course content and curriculum delivery to youth in the province. The purpose of the pilot is to test the programme's scalability. If it is successful, the partners will have a model that could significantly improve the reach of this information and communications technology (ICT) programme, adds GCRA CEO Percy Moleke.

"We look forward to future phases of this programme and replicating the model in other sectors," he says.

Further, the pilot programme garnered support from local and global foundations, WeThinkCode notes.

"The core of why we exist as a foundation is to collaborate with other funders and the government to crowd-in significant investments in educational models that influence systemic change in our educational system, so that no young person is left behind or denied quality education in South Africa," emphasises Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation CEO Zanele Twala.

The long-lasting effects anticipated out of the collaboration go past any individual contribution. Beyond the envisaged skills pipeline outcome, the exercise provides an opportunity to collect and analyse data which can be used to innovate around policies aimed at creating a robust information technology education framework, says Gwatirisa.

The pilot aligns with the goals of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation's jobs and livelihoods portfolio, which aims to provide new career and job opportunities for more than 250 000 young adults from communities in need globally each year.

"The partnership between WeThinkCode and EWC is a case study of a new partnership model that will allow youth enrolled in TVETs to access a high-quality, industry-relevant curriculum and pathway support into jobs in the ICT sector in South Africa, says Michael & Susan Dell Foundation jobs and livelihoods programme manager Ona Meyer.

"Partnerships like these have the potential to stretch across multiple TVET campuses and incorporate a variety of high-quality private training providers to improve employment outcomes for many young South Africans," she adds.