STEM skills, As South Africa continues to deal with an energy crisis, the urgent call for more skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) grows with each load shedding cycle.

Companies develop STEM skills as need to help SA deal with energy crisis grows

Ailing power producer Eskom announced it would upskill its workforce in a bid to curtail load shedding. Eskom and the SA Renewable Energy Technology Centre announced that they’d be working on a collaborative effort that “aimed to train and upskill staff at the Komati Power Station and qualifying community members around the power station to become renewable energy artisans”. STEM skills,  “It has become clear that skilled workers within the STEM industries are needed, who are equipped to design, develop, execute and manage renewable energy programmes,” Mustafa Soylu, the CEO of Defy Appliance, Soylu said that upskilling within this field is of relevance within our unique socioeconomic context, with SA notoriously having the highest Gini coefficient (a gauge of economic inequality, measuring income distribution) in the world.

“This is a gap that training and education can serve to bridge, particularly in STEM careers that are characterised by their ability to pay a living wage, thus tackling poverty.” Unesco’s 2017 Cracking the code: Girls’ and women’s education in STEM report states only 35% of STEM students in higher education globally are women. Young women also comprise only 25% of students in engineering or information and communication technology (ICT). STEM skills, In South Africa, according to skills portal, only 13% of graduates leaving tertiary institutions with qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are women. Soylu said with South Africa’s context, this won’t be an easy undertaking. “Successfully making the transition towards a more sustainable and equitable energy system requires a long-term commitment from all stakeholders,” “We must ensure that all solutions to the energy crisis are socially responsible as well as sustainable, in that they benefit the individual and community, as well as the broader environment.”

Source: This news is originally published by news24

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