Babajob: A mobile information hub for work seekers in India
During a recent study visit to India, we were privileged to visit a dynamic organisation called Babajob, based in Bangalore. It connects about 1 000 blue-collar work seekers to employers who advertise on Babajob every working day, through mobile phones, a website and a call centre. Over the past three years, 900 000 jobs have been advertised […]
Share: Offering second chances
Many adults and youth have not completed their formal education due to the many and varied challenges that beset South Africa. There are as many adults and youth requiring education as there are children in school, yet their needs are not adequately addressed or even considered as important. Why adult education and providing second chances […]
IkamvaYouth: Equipping learners to access tertiary education and employment opportunities
IkamvaYouth has set itself a tough but important mission: to enable disadvantaged South African youth to pull themselves out of poverty and into tertiary education and/or employment. This youth-led organization’s strategy is focused on ensuring that learners matriculate and access the post-school opportunities that will be their passport out of poverty. Read more about their […]
Career Planet: Connecting youth to opportunity using mobile technology
Youth unemployment has become one of the most pressing socio-economic problems in South Africa today. Given that unemployment is associated with social problems such as poverty, crime, violence, a loss of morale, social degradation and political disengagement, -connecting youth with opportunities for job creation and enhanced employability/self-employability not only makes economic sense; it is vital […]
From cleaning classrooms to teaching in them, meet the Hanover Park father who’s hanging up his overalls to inspire young minds
Peter Hendricks has built his life on ‘doing’ words. At age 45, the school caretaker obtained his teaching degree from the University of the Western Cape – working two jobs to realise his dream of empowering his community from the inside out. “I was relieving a teacher when I discovered children in Grade 9 and […]
Youth led organisations: Reminding us how powerful young people have been and can be in shaping our future
In a week when education is very much on South Africans’ minds, I am doing a quick tour of some of the civil society organisations working to facilitate young people’s access to education and employment. One of the organisations I visited today, Miyela, works with young high school learners at Naledi High School. Naledi was […]
Connection to Opportunity in 2011
Over 40% of 18-24 year olds in South Africa are not in formal education or training, nor are they employed (NEET). This represents a severe loss of human potential just at the time that young people should be becoming economically active. In 2011, Connection received 192 Step 1 applications. We were looking for projects and […]