By Seleoe Nonyane
Giant South Korean manufacturer of electronic devices Samsung is partnering with the Lerotholi Polytechnic (LP) to set up a Samsung Innovation Campus at the institution following a signing of a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday this week.
The Samsung Innovation Campus will provide an opportunity to deserving, previously disadvantaged youth to gain skills in coding and programming, artificial intelligence and the internet of things.
During his address at the occasion the president and chief executive officer of Samsung Africa Bumsuk Hong said the programme is designed to have educational themes that combine future core technology capabilities with soft skills for job creation.
“We aim to play a role through initiatives and partnerships such as this one to empower future generations to achieve their full potential through education.
“We are driven by bringing about positive social change and building a better world for all, not just through our products and services but also by creating opportunities for learning and growth.
“It is our sincere hope that this partnership will help unleash the infinite potential of the youth in this institution by harnessing resources and expertise,” he said.
For their part, the LP rector professor Spirit Tlali said the institution welcomes the initiative with open arms.
He said the school is a vehicle for the requisite change that the country needs and this initiative with Samsung is a step in the right direction.
The warned that the objective of the programme aligns itself with the national strategic objective of improvement of the technological infrastructure., noting it will go a long way towards increasing the competitiveness of the LP students and enhancing their academic aptitude.
At the occasion, the minister of education and training Dr Ntoi Rapapa stemmed that an investment of this nature in education is commendable “as this is the best way of accelerating change with fresh minds which is the youth.”
He said the world is faced with a serious challenge of unemployment and which is rife with each cohort of graduates. However, the trend can be reversed through provision of industry needs.
“This initiative does exactly that which is to enhance and help achieve the goal of producing industry ready graduates who will be more self-employable than job seekers.
“It is encouraging to realize the effort the institution is making to partner with international institutions and companies to maintain its competitive edge,” he said.
