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What 90 Years Has Taught Us About the Real Work of Education

by | Apr 29, 2026 | blog, News @ ORT | 115 comments

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐Ÿ—๐ŸŽ ๐˜๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฌ ๐‡๐š๐ฌ ๐“๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐”๐ฌ ๐€๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐š๐ฅ ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐„๐๐ฎ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐›๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐‚๐จ๐๐ž: ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‰๐จ๐›๐ฌ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž๐. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐Œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ƒ๐ข๐๐งโ€™๐ญ.
There is a photograph in the World ORT archive that stops you in your tracks.

Taken at King David School in Johannesburg in 1952, it shows children bent over wooden workbenches, hands moving with purpose as they learn woodwork, a reliable path to work in post-war South Africa.

It is a quietly powerful image. But what makes it remarkable is what it represents: ninety years of an organisation that has never stopped asking a simple question:

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ง๐ž๐ž๐, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ?
That question has shaped ORT South Africa since its founding in 1936.

In the 1940s and 1950s, South Africaโ€™s growing industries demanded skilled labour. ORT SA responded with precision, placing more than 1,200 individuals into 80 trades, from textiles and electrical work to mechanical engineering and the motor industry. Bursaries ensured financial barriers did not prevent access to opportunity.

The principle was already clear:
๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐š๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐š๐๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Sometimes the impact of education begins with a single conversation.

As a teenager, Beverly Cohen sat with an ORT counsellor unsure how to translate her many interests into a career. She excelled academically but felt pulled between science, music, and drama.

The counsellor listened carefully and suggested a path she had never considered: optometry.
That small suggestion shaped her future. Beverly went on to become a professor of optometry in the United States and later supported ICT programmes that introduced coding and robotics to South African schools.

๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐›๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐š ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ.
๐€ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐›๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
That is the long arc of well-timed guidance.

๐€ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐“๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ฌ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐’๐จ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
The 1990s marked a turning point for South Africa. The end of apartheid reshaped not only politics, but access to education and economic opportunity.

ORT SA responded by expanding science and technology education. Through programmes like ORT-STEP, teachers in disadvantaged communities were equipped to deliver stronger mathematics and science education.

During this period, Terence Selwoa became the first Black student to receive an ORT SA bursary, a milestone that reflected a broader commitment to expanding opportunity in a newly democratic South Africa.

The transition to democracy was not only political. It was educational and economic, and closing opportunity gaps became essential.

๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐›๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ฌ
By the 2000s, the nature of work was changing again. Digital skills became essential, yet access remained uneven.

ORT SA followed the economy once more.

Teacher training expanded. Programmes introduced digital literacy into under-resourced communities. Initiatives supported educators in translating knowledge into effective teaching.

The guiding insight remained unchanged:
๐ฆ๐ž๐ž๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐š๐ซ๐ž, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ž.

Today, the pace of change is faster than ever. Artificial intelligence, automation, and emerging technologies are reshaping industries, while youth unemployment remains one of South Africaโ€™s greatest challenges.

Through its Career Hub, STEM Academy, IT Academy, and entrepreneurship programmes, ORT SA is building pathways into the future of work, emphasising adaptability, problem-solving, and digital skills.

The workbench of 1952 has been replaced by screens.
But the principle remains the same:
๐ญ๐ž๐š๐œ๐ก ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ž, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ข๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐.

๐€ ๐…๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐‚๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž ๐…๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž
Tanaka began as a learner in ORT SAโ€™s Let Kidz Code programme.

What started as basic exposure to coding became a pathway into opportunity.

Today, Tanaka works at the Raspberry Pi Foundation, helping review ORT SA as a strategic partner in delivering coding clubs that will reach thousands of learners across the Eastern Cape.

๐€ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐๐ž๐ซ.
๐€ ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š ๐๐ž๐œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง-๐ฆ๐š๐ค๐ž๐ซ.
That is what long-term impact looks like.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐€๐ก๐ž๐š๐
Across ninety years, ORT South Africa has remained focused on one truth:
๐“๐š๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐›๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž๐. ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ.
Bridging that gap has defined ORT SAโ€™s work for decades and will continue to shape its future.
The world beyond the classroom looks very different today than it did in 1936. But the mission remains the same:
๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ข๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐š๐ฉ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐œ๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž.

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