by Hugh C.n. Miller | Feb 14, 2020 | Uncategorized
HOST UNEMPLOYED, MATRICULATED YOUTH IN YOUR BUSINESS FOR A 1-YEAR WORKPLACE EXPERIENCE
Written by: Ariellah Rosenberg, ORT SA CEO
The challenge of unemployment is one of the reasons ORT’s work in South Africa is so important.
“I’m 29 and I need a job or something that can help me bring income and feed my family. I … am desperately needing some job or internship to support my black family too.”
This is only one of hundreds of messages inundating ORT SA’s FB Messenger on a daily basis. Youth desperately looking for a job to provide for themselves and families with no luck while losing hope and confidence in themselves and the system.
This challenge of unemployment is one of the reasons ORT’s work in South Africa is important. ORT SA, an NGO affiliated to World ORT is celebrating 140 years of impacting lives through education. ORT SA’s mission of making people employable and creating employment opportunities is more pertinent and vital than ever, working in partnerships with government and other NGO’s in combatting the “war on unemployment”.
Recently the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) https://www.cde.org.za/
ORT SA CEO addressing the participants
discussed the concerning high rate of unemployment in the country. “Only four out of ten SA adults are employed, compared to six out of ten adults globally. South Africa has the deepest and most persistent crisis of unemployment in the world: only 42 percent of adults work”. Report January 2020, CDE.
Some solutions to increase employment, offered by various experts, such as the change of policies around property, labour and minimal wage require bold steps that may be beyond the NGO’s power to make real change. But there is a role for NGO’s to play in working with government to improve the quality of education and skills development in the country and providing opportunities to create jobs and strengthen small business enterprises.
ORT SA’s partnership with Yes4Youth https://www.yes4youth.co.za/for-youth/ is one collaborative approach to tackling the problem. The Yes4Youth is a partnership between government and corporates, aiming at placing one million youth in jobs for quality work experiences. Placing youth for a 12-month work experience is more than just providing them with an income for one year. The employed person is equipped with new knowledge, skills, disciplines and capabilities that no schooling would be able to provide. Youth placed in jobs for work experience gain not only knowledge and skills but also confidence and self-reliance that takes them out of this vicious cycle of non-employability.
ORT SA’s programmes for small businesses owners is designed to strengthen them through skills transfer and mentorship. The unemployed youth placed in the SME’s provide a pillar of administrative support that they could not otherwise afford. Should a business absorb this person after the year, it means that the business grew and it is a win-win situation for all.
“I am speechless. And so grateful to ORT SA for the opportunities they have given me,” says Tshepo Moami. “I was always interested in IT and was lucky to be a participant in the ORT SA IT Bridging course in 2018 and graduated with a Cisco IT Essentials certificate. Then they invited me to apply for the ORT SA/Yes 1-year work-experience programme and I was placed with Xpandit, an IT company, which services schools. After completing the year with Xpandit, they offered me a full-time position! Thanks a million to ORT SA. You have changed my life.”
Should you wish to host unemployed youth for one year, contact ian@ortsa.org.za
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Dec 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
Our organisation has grown in many ways this year. Some projects saw expansion beyond our expectations, such as our Coding and Robotics Clubs. A 12-year Mathematics programme has come to an end. In 2007, ORT SA signed a long- term unique partnership with Bidvest to provide Mathematics support, so crucially needed, to primary and high schools in the Alexandra township. Almost 17 000 learners were impacted by 300 teachers who received training and laptops, to equip them with 21st century skills in the classroom. Twelve years later, some mathematics distinctions are expected!
ORT SA’s pioneering Coding and Robotics Clubs expanded this year to 50 township primary and high schools, to 177 teachers and to 3633 pupils across Gauteng. The average female participation in these clubs is 70%, a huge contribution to gender imbalance.
Through the ORT SA Skills and Enterprise Development Academy, we are impacting 1600 unemployed youth by placing them in schools and SME’s for workplace experience. It is said that when one person works in South Africa, another seven are supported. Twenty-one disabled youth are in computer learnerships and 63 small businesses owners were given business mentorship and industry-related skills. Sixty-five new businesses signed up for ORT Jet’s business mentorship programme with 740 people attending 69 training events.
The new ORT SA CareerHub was created to expose people, especially the youth to future career options, to let them explore their strengths, passion and paths as well as providing experience and skills transfer. The novel ORT SA Youth Club gives youth the opportunity to interact with peers across the ORT global network.
But numbers are not all that count. ORT SA strives to provide quality education to allow people to access a dignified and independent life. This could not have been achieved without your support. Our sincere thanks on behalf of all the children, youth and entrepreneurs who benefitted from your support. Our best wishes for the holiday season. We look forward to facing the challenges of next year, together.
Ariellah Rosenberg & the ORT SA Team
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Nov 18, 2019 | Uncategorized
SA’s answer to 4IR will be shaped by proactive policy development
Artificial intelligence () is one of the great careers of the future brought on by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
This is the sentiment Arthur Goldstuck, ICT analyst and MD of World Wide Worx, shared with learners during a 4IR panel discussion organised by the Nedbank Foundation, in partnership with non-profit body ORT SA.
Click here to read more
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Oct 23, 2019 | Uncategorized
Ariellah Rosenberg, ORT SA CEO welcomes guests to an end-of-year event:
“Welcome to ORT SA, members of the department of education, dear trustees of STET (Support Teacher Empowerment Trust), dear teachers and schools representatives, dear learners. We are happy to share with you this special occasion.
Today we are celebrating the achievement of completion of this STET funded Maths and Coding programme. With 81 teachers, impacting almost 4000 learners and the commitment of 15 student teachers dedicated to become part of the teaching profession.
To be a part of the ORT SA programmes, it requires dedication: the extra hours you have dedicated to learning, coaching and support in the classroom and the aptitude of a growth mindset as well as being open to constructive criticism.
We thank you for the opportunity to have taught you. When one teaches, two learn. ORT SA’s mission is not only to impart professional techniques, knowledge and skills in coding or math but I believe, to prepare you to continue learning and empowering yourselves, and then paying it forward by mentoring or coaching another fellow teacher or learner. That is our mission which we hope we have accomplished.
ORT turns 140 next year. ORT is an organisation, an institution and an idea. It is the idea that people must be autonomous in order to live a dignified life and that in order to achieve that autonomy one needs education, above all. Therefore, although ORT in each country and in each era adopts different forms, its spirit is the same – providing a quality education that allows people to access a dignified and independent life.
As the great Isaac Asimov said: “education is not something that one can finish.” We must prepare to live in a society in which learning will occur throughout life, in all places and at all times. We never know what changing technology and continuous learning will take, but we know that we will all have to learn and keep learning continuously.
Jorge Grunberg, the rector of ORT Uruguay University, said that the threat in this new world is not free trade or immigrants or robots. The threat in this new world is ignorance. Ignorance is the great barrier to cross into the 21st century.
An ignorant nation cannot be free. To neglect our education is to neglect our freedom and our prosperity. An ignorant nation is dominated by charlatans and demagogues. It is not our assets that will project us into the future, but what we do to cultivate the intelligence and potential of our youth.
I would like to thank Ricci and the STET trustees for believing in our mission and Moabi from DOE District supporting this incredible project. To our dedicated and passionate STEM team working tirelessly to ensure we achieve excellence in all that we do. And to all of you here today. Find your own path, but know that ORT will always be your home.”
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Oct 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
In response to a video about the first robot teacher introduced in a schoolroom in India, ORT SA’s CEO, Ariellah Rosenberg had this to say:
Technology will change education but I’m not sure in that way (with a robot teacher). Note that there is still a human teacher in the class. And the robot pretty much provides frontal teaching which is basically taking pedagogy backward, not forward. Also, as a parent,I am not sure I’d send my kids to this classroom.
When it comes to unique strengths , technology will not be able to fully replace what a human can do . Technology can only be modified so much, but it cannot fully replace a human being .
Think of it this way , a human can clean in small areas where the mop may reach whereas a robot ,may not be able to fit in those areas ..’unique strengths’
Technology helps us remove obstacles so we can be more productive and lead better, easier even healthier lives. It can teach and even motivate us but it can’t inspire! That’s why I don’t think a robot will replace teachers .
It could be a teaching tool that a teacher should use to get their students to achieve their greatest potential but the human element will and should always be there.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnh7WCqgcz8
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Sep 13, 2019 | Uncategorized
Yes, the Youth are Making It
There is an old African proverb saying “mountains don’t meet but they meet through their shadows” meaning “if it looks impossible it does not mean it’s impossible”. This sums up this story of a young man born and bred in the under developed township of Alexandra, Johannesburg. Julius Olubudun, a veteran ORT SA maths facilitator recognised Clement Moroka’s talent when he learned of the difficult environment that Clement came from and yet, against all odds, he succeeded. “
After matriculating and then obtaining a certificate in computers, his job prospects were very slim. Clement applied at ORT SA, an implementation partner for the Youth Employment Services (Yes) programme tailored for unemployed youth. Olubodun added, “When Clement mentioned that he mentored kids in his neighbourhood in maths and science – that clinched it for me. He was the person we needed on our team and he was assigned as an intern maths tutor to assist me in after school maths classes that ORT SA run.”
A month into the programme an opening arose for an ORT SA Coding facilitator. He was interviewed and landed the job – a full-time position on the ORT SA staff – no longer an intern position. “What looked impossible became possible,” said Clement
“In this journey as a youth and my first time in a professional working environment, I have learnt a lot from my colleagues as well as the projects we are involved in. I’m very blessed for it’s not always the case for a young person to run into such luck, especially in a country where youth unemployment is on a high. My gratitude goes to ORT SA, YES for Youth and Nedbank for changing my life in the manner they did. THANK YOU ORT SA, Yes and Nedbank,” said Clement Moroke.
By Thabang Mphahlele, ORT SA Yes Intern.
