- The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority has launched a new Smart Skills Center in a disadvantaged region of the Free State.
- The new center is part of a broader investment of R31 million skills throughout the country.
- We saw a set of Meta Quest S3 VR that is used in the center, a rarity in South Africa.
The community of Phuthaditjaba, Free State, will benefit from a new smart center thanks to the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (Chieta) and the Free State Department of Education.
Located in one of the most disadvantaged regions of the province that cover Qwaqwa, Kestell and Harrismith, the center will offer the center “Advanced digital training, entrepreneurship programs and accredited courses that have been designed to equip more than 20,000 people with the skills needed for the fourth industrial revolution.
We saw one of the latest Meta Quest VR headsets used in the middle, as shown in the cover image, the Meta Quest S3.
Meta says that this headset, which was released a little less than six months ago, contains a 4.5x higher resolution than its previous incarnation, the Quest 3. It runs on the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 -chipset and has 8 GB Ram.
“Visuals are sharper, loading times are faster and the performance is smoother thanks to the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 -chipset,” the company explains. It also comes with a few controllers that you can see in the above cover. It has a battery life of 2.5 hours when it is not connected and up to 256 GB of storage space.
The most important characteristic of the headset is the resolution, making VR image formation of high quality at 1832 × 1920 pixels per eye. It will be available for members of the community who are looking for upskilling in the new center.
“The Smart Skills Center is proof of our dedication to bridge the digital gap and to ensure that young people from historically marginalized communities have access to the same opportunities as their urban counterparts,” said Higher Education Buti Manamela, who was present at the Launch of the Center.
“By bringing advanced training and innovation closer to where people live, we unlock the potential of every student to make sense to the economy.”
“The launch of the Free State Smart Skills Center builds on the momentum of the national rollout of Chieta, which has already successfully based centers in Bay, Mojadjiskloof, Babanango, Gqeberha, Highveld, Fraserburg and British,” the Authority Details in his notice.
It adds that these centers have seen more than 36 767 beneficiaries so far, thanks to an investment of R31.1 million. The Smart Center in Free State also uses new Dell laptops, as well as Dell Desktops in cabins, a boardroom equipped with smart TVs and more.
The Meta Quest headset itself goes for approximately R13 499 AmazonWhat is the only retailer that stores them in South Africa.
“Chieta will also collaborate with training providers and development partners through discretionary subsidies to ensure that the center remains a hub for elevating the community and sustainable economic growth,” says it.
Luis Monzon
htxt.co.za
