GEORGE THUSONG CENTRE  PRESENTATION – eSKILLS WORKSHOP  MR.MHLAMBISI MANKAYI  DATE:

SERVICES OFFERED Services offered include:- Computer Training – accredited by Isett Seta Faxing – Receiving and sending Photocopying Scanning Internet Photo printing Lamination

MANAGEMENT – ROLES AND VALUES OF CENTRE MANAGER Managing day to day operations and – Makes sure centre is open on time (plans) – There is enough supply of stationery (organising) – Computers are in working order and needs to know when they need to be maintained – There is enough staff Sensitising the community about the services provided by the centre (how)? -Marketing the centre on new services and whatever is being offered.

Conti.. - Engaging the local media, NGO’s, CBOS, churches, Municipalities, youth organisations, police stations, billboards, local shopping centres & Community meetings etc (leading)  Attracting local entrepreneurs – (how)? encourage them to use the centre for Tax returns.  Keep up to date with all new developments concerning technology.

Conti..  Setting rules in the telecentre for users (admin)  Manage finances

OWNERSHIP  Centre is owned by the community in the sense that they are the ones who use it to empower themselves.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT/TRANSFERENCE  The manager and the facilitator have been given quite a few skills in order for them to run the telecentre. Some of these have been:-  Entrepreneurship – writing of business plan (in order for them to stop begging)  MS office 2007 software courses  Facilitation skills which included Voice clinic course  Project Management, Administration & Leadership skills.  eSkills workshop – where a number of skills have been transferred to the managers e.g.picasa,digital story, webex etc.

COLLABORATION/PARTNERSHIP  Centre needs to network and partner with other organisations/stakeholders/institutions (UWC), businesses, government departments, and the other e-Centres. (why)?  Centre needs to keep up with new technology.  Partnerships increase resources, knowledge and capital.

Conti..  Centres will gain access to appropriate environments for training and assessment opportunities.  Centres will identify and meet realistic/achievable outcomes.  Partnerships will bring new ideas, information and resources into centres.  Partnerships will create links with industry expertise.

TOOLS TO LIFE LONG LEARNING  Working Partnerships  Adequate resources  Insight to demand for learning, in the knowledge based society, which will entail re-defining basic skills to include the new information and communication skills.

CHALLENGES  Lack of adequate skills by managers to run the e- centres properly.  Solution: Continuous skilling of centre managers  Centre managers should be profiled on skills and be trained on what they lack.(we can use a tagcrowd).  Sustaining managers  Solution: compensating them appropriately and giving them permanent contracts.

Conti...  Sustainability of the e-centre itself Solution  Centres should be income generating but not offering free services.  Duplication of Services SOLUTION Partnerships, partnerships, partnerships

Conti...  E-Centre Association of South Africa should be formed as this would afford e-centres to network and share ideas.  ALL THIS WILL LEAD TO UPLIFTMENT OF COMMUNITIES AND DIGITAL INCLUSION ‘It is vain to talk of the interest of the community without understanding what is the interest of the individual’. THANK YOU

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