ACTIVATE! Civic Education Toolkit
Introduction from the ACTIVATE! Civic Education Toolkit The dawn of democracy in South Africa has ushered in several positive outcomes for the country’s development. Despite this, young people in South Africa continue to face many problems, including high unemployment, poor educational outcomes and poverty, among other issues. There has been growing dissatisfaction with government services […]
Hands-on Learning Issue 14
Through our Hands-on Learning publication, we hope to play a helpful role in synthesising information from innovators and implementers in civil society, supporting them to share what they have learned so that others are able to draw from and build on their experiences. In this issue: Dynamic networks are amplifier strategies that enable social innovators […]
Steps to address South Africa’s dropout crisis
The majority of learners who start Grade 1 will not complete their schooling. The South African education system is failing our children because a lack of educational qualifications puts them at a disadvantage in the labour market, increasing the prospect of a life mired in unemployment, and in so doing, perpetuating cycles of poverty and […]
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 […]
Connecting with learners to keep them in school
For many learners, school can feel like a losing battle. We see this in the country’s low matric throughput rates – with only 40% of learners who start school going on to pass matric 12 years later[1]. Merle Mansfield of the Zero School Dropout Initiative asks what can be done now to give our learners […]
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 […]
Create Change: Step Up for Young People
South Africa has a resource with the potential to transform our economic and social reality. Unfortunately, we are missing this opportunity: It should go without saying that investment in children and young people is the source of future human capital. They should be at the forefront of strategies for economic growth and development in SA. […]
Aluta continua! Towards a generation of new young leaders that we believe in!
By Senzo Hlophe. To read this article in isiZulu click here. It is unfair to do a blanket comparison of young people of the 1976 generation with those of 2016. The 1976 generation are generally seen as superhumanly inspirational, having achieved the impossible. Unfortunately, this type of comparison usually leaves us feeling disempowered, underperforming […]
The South African Child Gauge 2015: Youth – an opportunity to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of poverty
The 10th issue of the South African Child Gauge, focusing on the theme of youth and the intergenerational transmission of poverty, was released last week on the 10th of November [2015] by the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute. It examines the situation of young people aged 15 – 24 and highlights the need for a range of interventions that continue to […]
Ideas from South Africa’s youth for addressing key social challenges … where to now?
Recently, the DG Murray Trust (DGMT) put out a call for ideas from young South Africans for addressing the country’s key social challenges. In part, this tactic was influenced by our belief that if we are to develop South Africa’s youth as leaders for public innovation – a process of continuing improvement of programmes, policies, […]
