Investing in Skills Training, will see more young people employed

In addressing one of the things that has left many young South Africans unemployed, lack of skills, the SOS Children’s Villages South Africa (SOS SA) has taken it upon itself to educate the youth.

The organisation founded by Austrian philanthropist Hermann Gmeiner is providing vocational training opportunities to hundreds of children who live in these villages. The organisation said in a press statement, it wants to reinforce the importance of investing in youth education, training and skills development by training children who are part of their projects.

According to the organisation, many young South Africans face hostile conditions in school-to-work transitions irrespective of their education level.
It said some of these young people become disillusioned with the labour market and they revert to doing nothing to increase, or to update their skills through education and training.

SOS SA quoted study which outlines trends annually that look at skills which would have been gained by young people in the year 2030. The study paints a gloomy picture which says by that year there will be 3.5 billion children and youth below the age of 25 by 2030, each looking to gain the digital,
entrepreneurial and job-specific skills they need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. (UNICEF, September 2020).

According to the organisation, the school-to-work transition has been further hindered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“For many youth, the digital divide caused a lack of access to education and training. Affluent families were able to continue accessing this online, while those who are less fortunate were mostly left behind. Youth who were seeking labour market opportunities experienced further challenges if
they could not access online job opportunities, the lockdowns meant they were restricted in physically approaching employers, and the economy did not grow meaning less jobs for the entire population,” said the organisation.

The organisation said it is actively contributes to a skilled youth force with various programmes and partnerships.

“Through the ‘YouthCan!’ programme, SOS youth are exposed to vocational training opportunities such as hairdressing, hospitality skills, painting and interior designing. They are provided with job shadowing opportunities at different companies and they are given learnership and internship
opportunities.  Corporate partnerships are leveraged to support young people to successfully manage the transition from school to independent adulthood,” the organisation said.

Commenting on the skills training project, it’s Programme Director and Youth Employability Co-Ordinator Peter Kotlolo is quoted saying: “Youth who are equipped with skills which make them employable are empowered to become active and contributing members of society. This in turn
contributes by adding more productive people to the workforce to grow the economy.”

Editor’s Note:
Many young South Africans are without proper a skill set which leaves one to being unemployable as the workplace hires people who have the right qualifications or at least some knowledge of the vacancy one is applying for.

Description:
To help fight these unemployment rates we see each year, SOS Children’s Villages South Africa are training their own youth on things that will help them have a brighter future.

Editor: Thato Mahlangu
Project Manager: Anirle de Meyer