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Strengthening Skills development through ICT & e-
Learning to enhance Youth employability to fight hunger
& Poverty – A case for Swaziland
Presented by Peterson Dlamini at the 5th Annual UNESCO-UNEVOC e-
Learning Summit Held in Dar es Salaam
25 -27 May 2011
Location of Swaziland on the map of Southern Africa
Some facts about Swaziland It is classified as a middle income country
and lies in the bottom level of the quartile. Has population of 1.2 Million people Its GDP stand at US$2.29 bn and its main
revenue comes from SACU 70% (2009) and the rest from agricultural export.
It is land locked and share boarders with South Africa and Mozambique
Covers a land area of 17000sq Km
Challenges facing the country
High rate of HIV infection, poverty and unemployment
Increasing numbers of young graduates from the few tertiary institutions we have who can not be absorbed by the job market
Access to Higher /Tertiary Education and Vocational Training centres posing great challenge due to space shortage
Some Programmes offered in our tertiary/ higher institutions not adequately addressing the emerging economy
Inadequate involvement of industry in the development of vocational curriculum
How we plan to pull ourselves from the above challenges The Swaziland has developed and adopted
a Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (PRSAP).
Vocational training and Skills development has been identified as one of the key areas that need to be strengthened to address Unemployment & Poverty.
As there are few Voc Training Centres cf. to the number of potential learners, the use of ICT & e-learning best option
Steps we have taken to strengthen the use of ICT & e-Learning
We have made it a requirement that all students from our TTCs and Universities take and pass a course on Digital literacy before they can be allowed to graduate.
Special Computer Courses for those who would be teachers have been developed and embedded in TTC/University curric.
Communities with assistance from gov have built computer labs in schools, and Gov has supplied computers.
Steps taken to use ICT & e-learning to increase access to Vocational Training With assistance from our Development
Partners i.e. the Republic of China on Taiwan, and local/intl philanthropists, gov has been able to;
Supply computers and also provide internet connection (internet cafes) at some strategic points in rural areas where learners can take online courses.
In areas where telephone lines are not available, SPTC and SEC have been drawn to assist in providing solar panels.
Vocational Courses that we are planning use in the e-learning pilot project
Pilot Areas Tourism and Hospitality Water Technology Secretarial and Office ManagementOther Issues we have addressed Training of Service providers in using
ICT and e-learning as a teaching tool Identification of Voc Centres where we
are to pilot the e-learning project
Group Photo of ICT Teachers
Challenges we anticipate to face Inadequate number of trained technicians
to provide services and maintenance to the computers
Shortage of appropriately qualified computer teachers .
The low teacher salary shall cause high staff turnover .
High costs to internet connections might course the project to stall
High rate of unemployment could increase crime, hence theft to our computers
Thank You