Newly launched school set to address skills shortage

Thursday, August 15, 2019

The newly launched Pace Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation in Jabulani, Soweto, is set to address skills shortages and create a skilled labour force.

“These schools will also assist in addressing skills shortages in Gauteng by creating skilled labour for the economy that will respond to the Transformation, Modernisation and Re-Industrialisation strategy of the Gauteng City Region,” said Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

The MEC officially launched the school on Thursday.

“This school will focus on finance, hospitality and tourism, responding to the skills needs in the region, the province and the country,” said the MEC.

Absa is the lead partner in this project. Being a former Independent School, Pace was established as a School of Focused Learning (SFL) in 2002.

“The Austrian Ministry of Education brought the best Professor in entrepreneurship to train the educators. Between 2016 and 2018, there were five sessions held. It was the educators themselves who immensely contributed towards the development of the manual. Prior to that, the school took the initiative to source out material on entrepreneurship,” said Lesufi.

The school aims to provide learners from disadvantaged communities with the capacity to enter the global economy as businessmen and women, hotel and restaurant managers in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry, incorporating other related professions in the broad fields of economics.

Schools of Specialisation (SoS) offer a highly specialised curriculum and seek to nurture the development of top talent in South Africa across key disciplines, breeding the country’s future generation of leaders.

According to the GDE, a graduate of the SoS can look forward to multiple exit opportunities, including joining the labour market, entrepreneurship or furthering their studies. – SAnews.gov.za