Fifty-eight students graduated Tuesday with practical electronic engineering skills from the Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy, empowering them to move into the job market with the technical knowhow to improve their marketability or setting up businesses.
This is the fifth graduation of the engineering academy that is part of Samsung’s broader goal to develop electronics engineers across the country to address the critical technical and engineering skills shortage that exists in the job market.
The academy is designed to play a significant role by creating an entrepreneurial spirit among the young graduates through bridging the skills gap that is occasioned by lack of resources.
Samsung Electronics East Africa Head of Marketing and Corporate PR, Patricia Kingori said the Academy’s critical role is to develop the technical skills needed to support Samsung’s innovation for Africa, which features flagship products designed for optimal use in the African market.
“As Samsung Electronics, we shape the future with transformative ideas and technologies. As a result the desire to equip young people with latest global technological skills that assist them to compete efficiently in the job market is what drives us to initiate such noble ideas”, Ms Kingori added.
She said Samsung will continue to promote sustainable social development and support communities where it operates with initiatives that are tailored for each region as part of their social and business responsibilities.
The African continent faces a critical shortage of technical and engineering skills due to its young population falling behind in physical sciences and engineering, this is why the academy is part of the global company’s broader goal to develop skilled technicians and engineers across the country.
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The nine months training program which is made of 80% practical work enables trainees to experience hands-on training with Samsung’s top-of-the-range equipment at no cost. “Economic hardship has become a hindrance to quality education in the country, as a result we developed this idea to bring these technical skills home and empower our youth to become job creators”, she urged.
The trained students were competitively selected from leading partner institutions such as Technical University of Kenya, Multimedia University, JKUAT, Kabete National Polytechnic, Nairobi Technical Training Institute and Machakos University College.
During selection, the focus is mainly on those pursuing Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Information Technology, Scientific Computing and Mechanical and Telecommunication Engineering. The top performing students and schools are also awarded with various prizes which include HHP, Laptop and Printer, CE and RAC.
The academy is part of Samsung’s global ‘Hope for Children’ initiative, which places a strategic focus on bringing attention to the worldwide need for childhood education and healthcare in an effort to improve communities worldwide.
