East London – In a world where cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, Pan African Information Communication Technology Association (PAICTA) continues to be at the forefront of raising awareness and promoting cybersecurity education.
Founded in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, PAICTA has made a remarkable impact not only on the socio-economic front but also in the lives of individuals within society.
Founder and the president of PAICTA Sonwabo Mdwaba, has been working with university graduates to empower them with essential skills to prepare them for the industry world. Additionally, PAICTA extends its support to high school students, assisting them with funding applications and guiding them towards higher education opportunities through their Pamoja Digital Learning (P2DL) initiative.
“We have worked with a small number of high schools in the Eastern Cape. One of the difficulties we would encounter was arriving at the schools and discovering that students did not have email addresses. We would then have to assist them in getting their email addresses and bring paper to print since not all of them had internet data to access videos and other works,” Founder and President of PAICTA Sonwabo Mdwaba.
One notable aspect of PAICTA’s approach is their focus on enhancing the programming skills of graduates from Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and the University of Fort Hare (UFH). While these graduates primarily leave university with Java programming knowledge, PAICTA supplements their degrees by providing training in the Python programming language. This additional skill helps graduates stand out in the competitive job market.
PAICTA also aims to revolutionize the education system in South Africa by offering schools across the country flexible online learning solutions. These solutions are designed to address key educational challenges, providing structured curriculum content and comprehensive courses on technology related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The courses are taught by PAICTA’s own educators, ensuring a high standard of education.
Mdwaba emphasized that they are a secured academy, and they want to reach children from the rural areas and familiarise them with Information Technology (IT), and they have tutors who have more than 20 years of experience in the field and the term 4IR not to shock them to make sure that the students in Eastern Cape are not left far behind.
“Without funding but we are improving as we are building capacity of expanding instead of having 25 students we can move to 100 students,” Sonwabo added.
The Teaching & Learning page of PAICTA’s website is a treasure for students, as they can access previous exam papers, memos, additional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses, Cisco courses such as Internet of Things (IoT), Cybersecurity, Python and C++. They have also partnered with NEMISA and Coursera courses offering additional courses for students to enrol in, as well as supplementary English and Accounting on our Teaching & Learning portal.
Last year, PAICTA’s efforts impacted the lives of over 80 students, with an impressive success rate of 90%. The organization’s commitment to empowering individuals and bridging the digital divide is commendable.
“We are pushing at a fast pace and with the experience we have PAICTA has officially launched the Institution of Science Technology Innovation Academy and the website will be available soon and we offer accredited courses,” said Mdwaba. As PAICTA continues to make strides in the field of Information Technology and education, their dedication to fostering a secure digital environment and equipping individuals with essential skill they are aiming at moving to 5IR (Five Industrial Revolution)
