Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the department and Microsoft South Africa on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital skills development.
The three-year agreement aims to strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors in preparing South Africa’s workforce for the rapidly evolving digital economy.
The partnership marks the third public-private partnership agreement secured by Deputy Minister Gondwe since assuming office in July last year.
Since assuming office, the Deputy Minister has actively championed public-private partnerships as a means to address the country’s high unemployment rate.
Since her appointment, Gondwe has been actively championing for strategic public-private partnerships as a means to address the country’s high youth unemployment rate.
The Microsoft MoU aims to address the digital skills gap and ensure that students are equipped with the skills demanded by the economy.
The Deputy Minister officiated at the MoU signing ceremony on behalf of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) at Microsoft South Africa’s headquarters in Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
“I am very excited to see this MoU with Microsoft come to fruition. It will significantly enhance skills development in our TVETs through Microsoft's one-year AI engineering programme and the wider Digital Literacy courses,” Gondwe said.
She emphasised the importance of digital and AI skills in navigating the modern world and securing future employment opportunities.
The Deputy Minister also underscored the importance for students to be prepared for the job market, once they exit the higher education sector, and have the right skills for employability, including self-employment and entrepreneurship.
National Technology Officer (NTO), Microsoft South Africa, Asif Valley said digital fluency is foundational to inclusive economic growth.
"This MoU with the Department of Higher Education, marks a pivotal step in closing the skills gap, and ensuring that students across the country are equipped, not just for employment, but for innovation, leadership and impact in a digital economy.
“By aligning curricula with industry demand and expanding access to future-ready tools, we are investing in a generation that will shape South Africa’s resilience and competitiveness for decades to come,” Valley said.
The MoU covers AI and digital skills development in the following focus areas:
- TVET Colleges: Microsoft will offer its self-paced Microsoft AI Engineer programme to TVET colleges, providing a one-year, short, blended learning course to train students. Microsoft to avail training content, guidance for programme facilitators, and provide mentoring to TVET colleges. Microsoft will collaborate with industry partners to support the enablement of TVET colleges on the Microsoft AI Engineer programme.
- AI in leadership training: Microsoft will offer short courses on AI in Leadership Training to all TVET college principals and DHET senior leadership.
- Education Transformation Framework Project (ETF): Through the MoU, Microsoft will collaborate with DHET on the Education Transformation Framework Project (ETF), which assists education leaders in navigating sector changes by developing strategies on leadership, policy, teaching, and learning to ensure student success.
- General Digital Skills Programme: Microsoft will partner with DHET to enhance students' digital skills through the Digital Literacy Programme.
