Lesedi Skills Academy Welcomes 2019 Mechanical Fitter Apprenticeship Intake
Lesedi Skills Academy is pleased to announce its new intake of 17 apprentices in March 2019. These learners, aged between 19 and 35, are predominantly from the Atlantis area with the rest coming from the Cape Flats. If you ever thought that the field of mechanical fitting was for men only, think twice, as we are pleased to have three ladies in the training programme.
Stripform Packaging, a company operating in Atlantis for over 35 years, have also undertaken Apprenticeship development, with one of its current employees enrolled on the programme. Stripform has also given female resident in Atlantis a full bursary to undertake an apprenticeship at the Academy.
We welcome all our new Apprentices to the Academy and look forward to spending the next three years with them.
Congratulations to our Qualified Fitters
We are very proud to announce that three apprentices from LSA have undergone their trade test in March 2019 and have qualified as qualified Mechanical Fitters. These three apprentices initially started off at the academy on aMechanical Fitter Learnership in 2016, but taking into account their previous working experience, have been able to register for recognition of prior learning (ARPL – Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning) process.
These three individuals have all taken up employment, two of which are originally from Atlantis. We are very proud of them and wish them well in their career endeavours.
In January 2018, Lesedi Skills Academy had its very firstexit of qualified Mechanical Fitters. Even though these apprentices were not enrolled with the academy for the fullduration of their apprenticeship, these candidates were able to successfully complete their trade tests despite various challenges during their apprenticeships.
The academy was able, through a gap analyses, advise their employer on specific, focused areas of intervention in order to get them qualified. Four of the five that have qualified, have also subsequently taken up employment as Artisans or in related areas of this discipline.
Safety – Our number one priority
As Safety is our number one priority at the Academy, we are pleased to announce achieving 120 000 man-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) since the Academy’s inception in 2015.
Thank you to all those who attended the successful event! Your presence was highly appreciated and will further strengthen our efforts to close the skills gap in the nuclear and broader energy sector and associated industries.
Skills Programme conducted with GRI Wind Steel South Africa Staff
The academy enrolled 43 employees from GRI Wind Steel South Africa and put them through an intense Skills Programme covering Routine Machine Maintainer, as part of a larger training intervention together with other private training providers.
These employees, having had the challenge of balancing operational demands with training at the academy, have been able to successfully complete the programme that ran from September 2018 to March 2019 which also included a practical workplace integrated component.
We are proud of the commitment of the learners of GRI Wind Steel South Africa and am also pleased to report that 38 employees were declared competent following external moderation with the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA).
Our Learners work hard and play hard
Learners at the Academy have initiated their membership with the Atlantis Industrial Soccer League. Soccer matches usually take place on Friday afternoons between businesses operating in Atlantis.
Learners have also raised funds to purchase their own soccer kits, proudly showing off in the picture below. We are pleased that the learners take a keen interest in team sports and find constructive ways of balancing their work life.
Ministerial visit to Lesedi Skills Academy
We had the privilege of hosting the Minister of Social Development, Albert Fritz, together with Councillor Cynthia Clayton, at the Academy on Friday, 12 April 2019. Minister Fritz committed to supporting the funding of an additional 30 youths at LSA.
We took the opportunity to demonstrate the skills of our learners and the capabilities of our academy. Minister Fritz said, “Initiatives such as LSA empower the youth and are key to overcoming South Africa’s high youth unemployment rate by providing young people with skills they can use to access jobs and employment.
For this reason, the Ministry of Social Development started the Cape Youth @ Work programme which has provided a work opportunity and training to nearly 100 students since its inception last year. This programme, together with the work done by LSA, has inspired me to support 30 additional LSA trainees in their next uptake period.”
Horst Lakemeier, Senior Executive at Lesedi Nuclear Services commented: “ The presence of Minister Albert Fritz sends a clear message that access to vocational training is an important lever to develop our youth, make a positive economic contribution and build a skilled workforce”.
Thank you to all those who attended the successful event! Your presence was highly appreciated and will further strengthen our efforts to close the skills gap in the nuclear and broader energy sector and associated industries.
