An assessment of factors that impact on the performance of Cisco Academies: the South African situation

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a catalyst for economic development and has been seen to provide new business opportunities and a source of competitive advantage. The acute ICT skills gap in South Africa is widely acknowledged. Such a shortage has cost the South African economy dearly, resulting in the government adopting a multi-pronged approach to the problem. The various interventions have yielded limited success leaving room for other players to contribute to the solution. The Cisco Academy programme, executed through the establishment of Cisco Academies in educational institutions, is a professional education programme focused on the provision of computer networking skills and other basic information technology technical skills. Its comprehensive approach has seen it playing a complementary role to those of the government and other stakeholders. This study focused on the factors that affect Cisco Academy performance. The primary objective was to improve the academic performance of the Cisco Academies in South Africa. More specifically the study assessed the effect of instructor quality, use of technology tools, multi-culture needs, motivation, supporting infrastructure and accessibility on academy performance. The sample consisted of 166 respondents from five Cisco Academies in South Africa. Techniques such as multiple regression analysis, two sample t-tests and analysis of variance were employed on the empirical data. It was established that instructor quality and use of technology tools were the significant determinants of academy performance. It was also established that the Cisco Academy programme is making a significant contribution towards addressing the ICT skills shortage. A number of recommendations are made for the government, Cisco Academies and Cisco systems itself. Recommendations for future research are also provided