The recently completed Sabido eAcademy, situated in the Johannesburg suburb of
Hyde Park, is a new addition to the Sabido group and to the training and education
sector of the television and broadcasting industries. It offers training with a dual
focus: to empower the unemployed and to upskill working professionals by way of its
formal short and long-term training programmes.
Although it is a new arrival on the industry stage, the Sabido eAcademy has been
developing slowly behind the scenes for quite some time. Its principal Natalie Delport
has worked in the industry in varying capacities over the years and always harboured
a passion for training and education. Since at least 2006, she has initiated the
creation of a number of training programmes with a view to improving knowledge and
expertise in the industry. Her first television learnership, implemented when she was
working at Realtime Pictures in 2006, had an intake of 18 students, about 14 of
whom have been working consistently in the industry ever since.
Delport’s experience with the first learnership programme led her to the conclusion
that there remained a strong need for practical training opportunities in television
broadcasting. She opened up her own company, Portal to Learning, through which
she facilitated the training needs of various companies in the industry. This brought
her to the attention of e.tv. At the time, the free-to-air broadcaster was looking to
focus strongly on the development of its internal training staff and on improving the
transfer of skills from experienced staff members to their younger and less
experienced colleagues. With Portal to Learning contracted to run e.tv’s Technical
Operations training initiatives, Delport and her assistant, Jeniffer Maako, became
familiar faces around the broadcaster’s headquarters. From 2008 they introduced a
comprehensive programme that incorporated all aspects of learning, including life
skills and team building.
After a number of years, Delport was appointed as GM of training for the Sabido
group and Maako as the training coordinator. In the two years that followed the plan
was to take the training techniques and philosophies formulated and perfected
internally to the industry at large.
Almost exactly two years later, in line with the group’s business strategy, the Sabido
eAcademy is set to make its official opening.
Delport stresses that the eAcademy a training institution designed to strengthen the
new and existing labour force in the industry and ensure that it is employed
optimally. “The academy has two arms,’ she explains. “The one consists of formal
learning programmes, which are there to assist unemployed people who may or may
not have previous experience in the industry but would like to get some kind of
certification and more work experience. The other arm is meant to service the
industry directly – and this is mostly aimed at companies. We offer master classes
and full courses for all specialisations in the industry. A company can approach us and
we will then work with them to develop long-term training plans to suit the needs of
their employees from entry level to top management. With this dual approach we can
help the unemployed but we can also assist those people working in the industry who
wish to improve their skill set or perhaps never got the proper training they should
have had in the first place. A major focus for the academy in the future is recognition
of prior learning (RPL), whereby individuals can obtain formal recognition for work
experience gained over years.’
While the courses offered to companies are tailored to suit the staff training needs of
the organisations in question, the other aspect of the academy’s offerings consist of a
number of standardised programmes offered through the partnership and sponsorship
of some of the industry’s major players. At present, four such learning programmes
have been set up: the eNCA Interns Bootcamp (12 interns), the Sasani Skills
Programme (12 learners), the e.tv Learnership (20 learners) and the eKasi Skills
Programme (40 learners). Each of these programmes, Delport says, offers learners a
careful balance of theory and practical experience. Part of the course is spent at the
academy attending classes, while the rest of the time is spent in both real and
simulated work environments. For Delport and her team, it is this balance that will
give Sabido eAcademy graduates the edge that this industry
so needs.
Interest in the academy has been huge. Applications for the learnership programmes
that started in August amounted to around 7000. Hence the entry requirements are
stringent and academy staff have to be extremely selective. There is only one way to
apply and that is through the online application process set up on the eAcademy
website (www.eAcademy.co.za). This site is mobile friendly. No mailed applications
will be accepted. Applicants who do not have internet access are invited to visit the
campus and use the computers provided in order to submit online, when programmes
are open for applications.
The door is also open to trainers in the industry who wish to make their services
available to the eAcademy on a freelance basis. Interested parties can call the
academy and speak to the head of training, Simon Palmer, who will add their details
to the database to be retrieved when the need arises. “There are so many people who
have been in the industry for many years that have so much knowledge. If they retire
or leave the industry for some or other reason, they take that knowledge with them.
We are saying, if you’re going to retire, go ahead, but come to us first and help us
transfer the skills and knowledge you have,’ Delport says.
The eAcademy is the realisation of a long-cherished dream for Delport but that is not
to say that she feels she has reached the destination just yet. “We do envisage
tremendous growth and I believe that in five years’ time we will be twice as big as we
are now,’ she says.
