Good chance to get a job, training opens
Despondent and frustrated matriculants of the class of 2013 should consider the National Youth Skills Development Programme if admission to tertiary institution or a place in the job market has suddenly become a pipe dream. The development programme has set itself a target of creating more than 84000 jobs for unemployed young South Africans this year alone.
Zama Qampi, the executive chairman of the programme, told Sunday World that internships were created in all spheres as long as the candidate had qualified in their chosen field.
Admission into the programme is any matric pass or a Grade 10 pass, but youngsters with work experience will also be admitted no matter what level of education they achieved.
Qampi has spent eight years developing community-based youth leadership and entrepreneurial projects in various sectors for the programme, which is based in Lyndhurst, north-east Johannesburg.
He said his organisation had job centres nationally linked to municipalities, Lulaway Job Centres, teacher colleges, prisons, rural community centres, traditional authorities, further education colleges and universities.
At national and provincial levels they work with government departments and sector education and training authorities.
"Although the emphasis is on the rural youth, we are also biased in favour of the women of this country because they constitute the highest percentage of the country's population," he said.
After the young people had undergone successful training and skills development in various fields of study, theory and practice, they are placed in jobs, preferably in their communities through job centres, whether full-time or as interns, he said.
Tuition is offered at Cida City campuses, the City Town College/ Transnet Programme, Springbok Rand Airport Training Academy, Global Green College and Bantori College's maths and science academy.
"We are linked to 14 channels in which our qualified youths are placed as interns and thereafter get employed on a full-time basis if they make the grade," said Qampi.
Students enrolled in the programme come from all over southern Africa and the tuition is free, said Qampi. The projects have been approved by the national education departments.
The programme is self-sufficient, with no funding from the government or the private sector.
"Our programme is designed to sustain itself. We sell life skills books, manuals, DVDs, stands for exhibitors at our career expos and we run workshops at educational institutions," he explained.
Government schools that used the programme's services have improved their pass rate.
"We have been assisting schools to set up extra lessons for pupils across the country, and in the Eastern Cape and in the Northern Cape the pass rate increased dramatically.
"In Gauteng we focused on areas such as Mabopane and Orange Farm and we used churches for classes.
"We focussed on grades 10 to 12 and retired teachers, unemployed graduates and the schools library programme came on board to offer lessons."
Registration for the programme is R800 for all fields.
For more information, call +27 (0)11 887 4495 or +27 (0)82 977 1370, or fax 086 693 1998.
Source: I-Net Bridge
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