Bridging the digital skills gap with work-ready junior tech talent.
Umuzi.org / African Coding Network
Youth account for 60% of African’s unemployed, while the youth population is expected to double by 2050. Africa needs not only to meet the current need but the growing future need for economic activity for African Youth.
One such economic opportunity exists in Africa's rapidly growing technology sector, where the need for local tech skills is growing. Africa's technology sector has seen an increase in international investment of 47% with the number of investors growing by 61% between 2018 and 2019. Yet, traditional education is failing to keep up with the growing Tech skills need. The number of computer science graduates for South African Universities grew by less than 10% between 2014 and 2017.
Umuzi tackles youth unemployment in South Africa through demand-driven digital skills training. We create learning opportunities for exceptionally talented youth, get them work-ready within one year, and place them in a full-time earning role, filling a scarce skill need at a leading South African employer. Umuzi supports high-potential, un and under-employed young people (typically 19 - 24 years) from low-income communities across South Africa and prioritises gender representation.
Umuzi achieves its high employment rate through the competitive selection of learners (select), demand-driven practical training (train), and strong partnerships with employers to ensure a work experience opportunity for every learner (accelerate). The three phases- Select, Train, Accelerate are viewed with equal importance to create an end-to-end value proposition to youth and partners.
Summary of the learning journey from unemployed to tech professional:
Select: Competitive selection process with rewards for all participants
- Applicants apply via Umuzi’s Recruitment Application Portal and complete aptitude tests; we had ±15,000 applicants in 2019 for 200 places making the process highly competitive, ensuring quality.
- What learners are tested for:
- STEM Literacy
- Big 5 personality test
- Numeracy
- Pseudocode
- Reasoning & Logic
- Problem-solving
- Selected candidates attend a remote selection bootcamp, where they complete a short course over a few weeks, working remotely at their own pace.
- Unsuccessful candidates who complete the selection bootcamp and who are not ready for the full programme receive a certificate for the short course and links to further learning opportunities to improve their chances if they apply again.
- Successful candidates join Umuzi’s full 12-month programme.
Train: practical, project-based training
- Remote onboarding including issuing of computers, internet connectivity and data
- Introductory Design Thinking course
- 9 months of practical upskilling in Umuzi’s simulated Agile work environment focused on in-demand tech skills based on employers’ specific needs
- Collaborative, peer-to-peer learning working in Product Teams building real software
- Continuous practice using industry-standard tools and processes such as GitHub ensure not only content knowledge but work readiness.
- Holistic support in terms of mentorship, counselling, and work readiness skill.
Accelerate: access to work experience and employment opportunities
- 3 months work experience with an employer partner (as part of the learning programme with Umuzi)
- Umuzi’s support to find a job at the end of the work experience, with the host or another employer in Umuzi’s network (with our help, 80% of our learners find employment immediately)
- Alumni continue to have access to Umuzi’s edtech learning platform to continue their professional development as well as Umuzi’s recruitment services to find new employment opportunities throughout their career.
Since 2011, Umuzi has trained over 500 young South Africans, of which over 80% are in full-time employment in digital and tech careers.
We focus only on one metric: learners who start a programme that ends up in full-time employment. We maintain an 80% employment rate.
Youth centered: We work closely with youth to understand their needs and build solutions to fit. Additional services are important, such as providing applicants with data and reducing the opportunity cost of studying with a learner stipend.
Funding- Build a product: South Africa has a skills development tax, to incentivise corporates to invest in skills development. Although this is an enabling factor, we have built a value-adding service, creating a talent pipeline back into corporates.
Simulated work environment: We simulate a real work environment with learners for learners to practise professional skills, entering the workforce with a ‘year of work experience’ from Umuzi. This includes everything from language, educators are managers- to processes, recruits apply for leave.
Demand-driven: Umuzi started as a photo club, teaching photography. We quickly learned photographers are not very employable. We shifted to creative careers, then again to tech skills. Each time, following where the demand for skills is.
Challenges/Barriers
Accreditation: Education accreditation bodies struggle to keep pace with the changing tech sector. We had to design our programmes to go far beyond what the accreditation requires to ensure youth are work-ready.
Income diversity: Covid-19 made us realize our dependence on corporates to pay for training. We are working to diversify our business model, building multiple components- direct training to customers, training delivered for businesses, unemployed & employed learnerships and consulting services for learning and development, employee experience and workforce planning.
Moving Forward
To address Africans tech skills and inequality gaps at scale, we founded the African Coding Network which aggregates and supports three key stakeholder networks- Youth, Coding Schools, Employers- and establish a shared-value marketplace between supply and demand.
We support young Africans to select quality learning to earning pathways, train in in-demand digital skills, and accelerate their careers in tech.
This youth-centred talent pipeline approach focuses on the end-to-end support needed to get Afican youth economically active in tech careers.
Resources
Contact Information
info@umuzi.org
Hello@africancoding.network
