Schneider Electric signs agreements to open more French South African Education centres

Schneider Electric will collaborate with four South African higher learning institutions and the French Ministry of National Education to provide state-of-the-art equipments to train disadvantaged young South Africans in the field of energy.

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, signed agreements with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, College of Cape Town, University of Johannesburg and Sedibeng College for the establishment of four training centres, in partnership with the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, Schneider Electric France, Schneider Electric South Africa and the Schneider Electric Foundation. The signature ceremony was held on March 4, 2016, at the Schneider Electric Midrand Campus in Gauteng, in presence of Her Excellency Elizabeth Barbier, French Ambassador to South Africa, Marianne de Brunhoff, Director of European and International Affairs of the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, and Eric Leger, President of Schneider Electric South Africa.

As part of these partnerships, the training centres will be called French South African Schneider Electric Education Centre (FSASEC), with the primary focus to train disadvantaged young South Africans in the field of energy. These agreements are building on the success of Schneider Electric’s first French South African Schneider Electric Education Centre (FSASEC), hosted by Vaal University of Technology since four years and piloted by Alexandre Sebastiani, the French expert from the French Ministry of of National Education, Higher Education and Research. This deployment is part of a worldwide programme lead by the French Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research and the Schneider Electric Foundation to create a network of Schneider Electric training centres in Southern Africa and all over the world, as in South America, India and Asia. The additional South African centres bring the total to 30 Schneider Electric training centres around the world.

“Schneider Electric is pleased to sign these new partnership agreements with such esteemed South African higher learning institutions. We need to have more students trained in the field of energy in South Africa. These four agreements are key to accelerate vocational training in the field of energy across the country for previously disadvantaged students”, said Eric Leger.