EMFULENI Mayor Sipho Radebe and former Safa president Molefi Oliphant unveiled the Institute for Applied Science and Commerce in Vanderbijlpark, Vaal on Thursday, 4 April.
The academy was established by 31-year-old Dr Nyangani Tshabalala, with the initial focus on giving people who failed matric a second chance to rewrite their exams.
Tshabalala told Daily Sun that he has a degree in solar photovoltaics from the Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA and then became a scholar of applied mathematics and physics at the Nelson Mandela University.
While at university in 2017, he started a programme that helped students with low APS scores to be able to get into university and later followed by a programme called Itukise, which was an application for second chance matric re-write students.
“Today, the academy is officially unveiling the science and innovation hub building, a newly acquired building with a capacity to host about 500 students,” he said.
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Tshabalala said the focus of the academy is on science, innovation, and technology with a vision to address the skills gap in technology and develop innovate entrepreneurs.
He said the institution will be playing an important role in positioning the Vaal as an important player in the future knowledge economy and providing youth with the relevant skills to participate in the mainstream economy.
Mayor Radebe said that he's happy that a young man has taken a decision to help the youth to further their studies.
“He has innovated something that many young people have never thought about, and his innovation is going to help bring back the hope for the region as many people have lost hope that the Vaal will never be an economic hub ever again,” said Radebe.
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