Hillsborough Community College and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), with support from Highline Community College, are developing an innovative one-year certificate program to prepare students from formerly disadvantaged groups for jobs at firms engaged in regional and international trade. They are establishing a program advisory committee comprised of NMMU personnel and area business leaders to help shape the course content, build the capacity of NMMU Development Studies faculty to create and evaluate effective and industry sensitive course materials, and develop and pilot job placement strategies for students completing the certificate.

In addition to preparing students for existing jobs, the program enables those who successfully complete the program to move into second year studies in a related degree program. The USAID/South Africa Mission supports the application and believes that the initiative significantly contributes to the Mission’s Performance Plan Goal of Economic Growth and Development through skills development of the South African workforce.

USAID/South Africa also anticipates that the intervention proposed by Hillsborough and NMMU will ease the burden of unskilled labor in South Africa, especially in the Eastern Cape Province, where the majority of participants are based in rural areas and lack the skills needed by local businesses involved in trade.