Opportunity 9: Reflection and Analysis
Media Statement: Court application to compel MTN to zero-rate approved PBO websites
The DG Murray Trust has launched a court application to compel mobile network operator MTN to zero-rate the local educational websites of public benefit organisations that have been officially approved, but not actioned. This application follows three months of engagement with the three largest network operators (Vodacom, MTN and Telkom Mobile) urging them to zero-rate […]
Posted on 20 Jul 2020
COVID-19 must be used to disrupt long-term mortality trends – and radically improve our education system
The clinically cold term ‘excess deaths’ has worked its way into the global lexicon. It means the number of deaths that occur in excess to that which would typically be expected in any given time period. If the death rate for whites is an acceptable norm for South Africa, then there are roughly 200,000 excess […]
Posted on 11 Jun 2020
Zero-rate mobile services for health, education and development. NOW!
If ever there were a time to capitalise on the fact that there is a cellphone in every home, it’s now. Schools, preschools, reading circles, health clubs, antenatal classes, job skills and a wide variety of community support programmes have been cancelled. The pipeline of learning and teaching to millions of children has been abruptly […]
Posted on 24 Mar 2020
Young people must help design a youth employment plan
To reduce youth unemployment, young South Africans need to be involved in the design and implementation of the President’s recently announced youth employment plan. If it fails to match the realities on the ground, then the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention will remain just that –another plan on paper writes Kristal Duncan-Williams. Across the country, young […]
Posted on 29 Feb 2020
Stop paying lip service to youth. It is time to start using their voices, views and actions to reshape South Africa.
Last week we came across a tweet that summed up the despondence of a generation. It read: “I once attended a youth dialogue with government officials. We listened to speeches by old people for 2.5 hours. Then they took three comments from attendees totalling 5 minutes of the entire event. They probably marked it somewhere […]
Posted on 17 Feb 2020
Youth Capital
20 million South Africans are under the age of 35. This youth bubble has the potential to transform South Africa’s economic and social reality.
Posted on 6 Nov 2019
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
