Opportunity 9: Reflection and Analysis
Let’s get behind the General Education Certificate — and make it work
Currently, half of all children who start school make it to matric — the majority drop out in Grade 10 and 11 after repeating multiple grades. Grade 9 marks the end of compulsory schooling; if done right, formalising this point in a learner’s educational journey could be an important mechanism to improve outcomes for young […]
Posted on 3 Oct 2019
Our challenge is psychological as much as it is economic: Ten ways to create new opportunity for young people
We are fast running out of time to create hope for the millions of young people who are still excluded from the formal economy. Escalating violence in South Africa shows that the problem is not absolute poverty; after all, there are many countries poorer but more peaceful than ours. Rather, the problem is extreme inequality, […]
Posted on 16 Sep 2019
The true cost of our failing education system
Despite significant investment in South Africa’s education system[1], far too many children cannot read or write and struggle with basic numeracy. Not only is this robbing our learners of their potential, but it’s also hurting our economy, too, with a new report revealing that grade repetition costs us R20-billion a year. South Africa’s education system […]
Tags: Grade Repetition, Opportunity 10, Opportunity 9, Zero Dropout Schools Initiative
Posted on 2 Sep 2019
Providing a multi-faceted package of support to young people
“Even the ants are [more] alive than me. They are always busy collecting food in preparing for tough times. … I am just like a statue”, wrote Thandiswa (not her real name) in her diary as a young unemployed woman in her twenties. Having grown up in Khayelitsha after her parents relocated from the former […]
Tags: Create new connections, create new connections to opportunity for young people, employment, NEET, Opportunity 9, Youth, Youth unemployment
Posted on 20 Jun 2019
Creating jobs and improving education at the same time
There’s a wonderful book by Dr Seuss that all parents should read to their children. It’s called Oh, the Places you’ll Go, written for young people as they set off on life’s exciting journey towards success (“98 and ¾ per cent guaranteed”!). But it’s not all breathlessly gung-ho. The book acknowledges that there are amazing […]
Tags: Axium, Community Work Programme, COUNT, creating employment, creating jobs, CWP, DCOG, Department of Cooperative Governance, Early Childhood Development, Early learning, ECD, ECD centres, employment, job creation, jobs, Nal'ibali, Opportunity 10, Opportunity 9, Smart Start, Smartstart, Zoe Reading Project
Posted on 8 Feb 2019
David, Goliath and half a gig of data
With a third of young South Africans marginalised from work, training and employment opportunities – there are over 8 million young people itching for opportunity. As Shakira Maharaj points out, young people are ready to make the most of what they get. This past weekend was a big one for South Africa – the last […]
Tags: creating employment, creating opportunities, creating opportunity, employment, job creation, job-seekers, looking for work, Opportunity 10, Opportunity 9, Youth Capital, Youth employment, Youth unemployment
Posted on 4 Feb 2019
What it’s really like to be at school in South Africa
As a country, we have committed to greater access to education for all children. The importance of early childhood education (the first five years of a child’s life) to improve children’s capacity to learn and thrive is now firmly on the national agenda. Even the significance of prenatal care is making inroads in our attempt […]
Posted on 26 Nov 2018
Youth will shape the South Africa of tomorrow – let’s get behind them today
Every January we as South Africans focus our full attention on the successes, and failures, of the education system as marked by the Matric results. We celebrate the individual shining examples of extraordinarily bright students, of inspiring principals that produce amazing results against all the odds, and take a step back to assess how we […]
Tags: Youth, Youth employment, Youth Identity
Posted on 17 Feb 2017
Casting some light on the new 3 Stream Schooling System 2017
Over the last few months there has been talk of a new schooling system planned for South Africa. In January, a few online articles appeared but the detail has been lacking and equivocal. Through a discussion hosted by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in February, we managed to unearth a little more. The […]
Tags: Enterprising School Leavers
Posted on 11 Apr 2016
Five things to think about beyond matric results
Every January the whole country focusses in on a single number: the matric pass rate. For many this number comes to define the state of young people, and we tend to leave the conversation there. But for school-leavers, the matric results are not just the end of one journey, they are the start of a […]
Tags: Enterprising School Leavers, Matric results, Supporting young people
Posted on 7 Jan 2016
