Last month saw the launch of Trace Academia – the free online vocational training platform built for youngpeople looking to build their skills to find or create jobs.
The company’s latest youth empowerment programme created in response to the high rate of unemployed youth across the continent, kickstarted in the country this month. The training programme which was created to develop and support the professionalization of the creative and cultural sector in Africa, will focus on empowerment through educating and training young people.
More than 50% of Africa’s population is under 25 years old. The youth are struggling with the effects of a longstanding economic and psychological crisis. The reach of the global pandemic has further accelerated the need for new approaches to education.
Trace Academia courses are created in collaboration with leading local and international companies, institutions and experts to ensure that the skills provided are well matched to the market needs. A localised, interactive and entertaining course format keeps the learner’s attention and significantly improves course completion rate.
Trace Academia will primarily target young South Africans in their initial phase of it’s inaugural year, followed by expansion into other African countries.
The platform will launch with several locally produced training courses including Get Started with Digital Marketing (Grow with Google), How to Become a DJ (Trace), Spark your Interest in Electricity (Schneider Electric), Become a Successful Entrepreneur (Valued Citizens & UJ), Become a Real Handyman (Leroy Merlin) and Own Your Situation (Durex). Trace Academia will take the learner through the journey towards skill acquisition.
Trace Academia platform will offer:
- Vocational Training
- Entrepreneurial courses
- Soft Skill and Well Being courses
- Social Learning Features
- Job Information
Learning Engagement – Engaging content keeps the learners’ attention and maximises completion
Testing and Certification – Course certified by industry leaders providing credibility and applicability
Employment Opportunities – Learners are connected to an ecosystem of employment enablers
Due to the high youth unemployment rate in South Africa, it was important for Trace to introduce the Trace Academia project as a getaway to Trace’s mission of entertaining and empowering young people to stand up and shine. With the mammoth goal of training over 25 million youth by 2025, Trace Academia aims to develop hundreds of courses to help empower these young people to become employable or become employers.
‘To build Trace Academia, we’ve combined our expertise and experience in entertainment with cutting edge learning approaches adapted to the realities and cultures of Africa. The young people we have worked with in building the platform find the content highly engaging. In fact, in a recent study of 17-25 year olds in SA, Kenya and Nigeria, 96% said the app would motivate them to further their education or improve their employment prospects. We believe that Trace Academia has the potential to positively impact the lives of millions of young people in South Africa and across the continent,’ stated Trace Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Olivier Laouchez.
Acclaimed South African DJ Doowap playing at the launch also commented, ‘Being a young South African artist, I feel this programme is the perfect platform to empower and train other young people in various career choices. For those less fortunate who can’t attend a formal tertiary educational institution, or even those who no desire or interest to go to University, the Trace Academia offering is exactly what is needed right now. Our youth are talented and this training will give them the much needed professional backing to strive in the current economic climate’.
Part of the launch centred on the signing of a protocol of cooperation between the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Senghor University in Egypt and Trace to establish a partnership to support the development and professionalisation of the cultural and creative sector in Africa through the Trace Academia programme. AFD’s financing of €650k will cover a training course dedicated to understanding the challenges of the sector and providing workable solutions. The learning content of the training is to be developed through this partnership between Senghor University in Egypt, Trace and Campus AFD, AFD’s training centre.
Trace Academia is set to be launched in the rest of the continent by the end of this year, with more courses to be produced with leading companies, institutions and experts globally.
Trace Academia application can be downloaded on the Apple App store and Google Play store.
More information on www.traceacademia.com
