One of our talented alumni, Kieron Adams who matriculated in 2012, is one of only twenty-four candidates in South Africa who was selected for a 3-year programme in the highly specialized field of cybercrime. African banking group, ABSA and the world's first free-access, self-funding tertiary institution, Maharishi Institute (MI) partnered to create the ABSA Cybersecurity Academy, which aims to address the local and global skills shortage in cybersecurity and to empower marginalised South African youth.
Kieron studied civil engineering after he matriculated from Christel House but decided not to complete his degree to help support his family. He worked at call centres and managed to work his way up the ladder to a supervisory role. He developed a passion for Information Technology (IT) and while working for online retailer, Takealot.com, he managed to obtain an IT Helpdesk Certificate through Udemy in his free time.
Christel House’s Career Development Manager, Louise de Marillac st Julien, posted the cybercrime academy opportunity to our school’s alumni WhatsApp group early in 2020 to encourage students to apply. Kieron says “I came across the post and somehow, knew it was meant for me. I decided to attend an open day at ABSA Cape Town. After 6 months, I received a call from the Maharishi Invincibility University to say that I have been accepted for the internship. This is a big blessing for me.”
According to a recent report (*Accenture), South Africa has seen an increase in cybercrime attacks and the South African government is therefore currently updating cybercrime legislature to protect citizens. Kieron’s goal is to complete his studies and become a certified cybersecurity analyst. He would like to work for a major bank or company to protect our citizens’ data and to create workshops to upskill people in less fortunate communities.
Kieron thanked Christel House SA and specifically wanted to express his gratitude to the High School Principal, Dr Ronald Fortune, who he says inspired him to become the best version of himself.