In an effort to equip employees with the data engineering skills at the workplace, Explore Data Science Academy has introduced its first online course in data engineering. According to Chief executive of Explore, Shaun Dippnall, there was a shortage of training courses online that offer both the content and practical application of data engineering skills required in the workplace.
The part-time 12-month course which started last week will provide students with the specific skills set required to become data engineers. So far, more than 100 students have started with the virtual course and will be learning structured query language (SQL) basics, python programming, data modelling and cloud computing.
“Students are given real-life data; they work in project teams and come up with answers and most courses are quite theoretical, conceptual and quite academic. They also have support structures through facilitators, teachers, webinars; there’s a lot of help on the way,” said Dippnall.
He noted that the course will be beneficial to employed people who want to advance their careers.“With this particular course we get a lot of people in employment between 25-35 years of age and they have often got a job at a company and they want to upskill themselves and further their careers,” said Dippnall.
“Cloud computing skills are massively in demand both locally and globally. And those jobs are highly employable. Even though a lot of jobs are being shed [since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown] and people are retrenching, these skill sets will be very employed at high salaries. These skills, we are almost certain, will get jobs for our students,” he added.
Explore will launch the next phase of applications of the course in July with a target of 250 students for next year.
