Developed by: Segomelo I.K. (31 October 2012)
http://segomelo.blogspot.com
TEEC :
GREATER TAUNG YOUTH EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVE
A REPORT ON THE YOUTH PROFILE FOLLOWING THE YOUTH INFORMATION SESSION THAT WAS HELD ON 26TH SEPTEMBER 2012 AT THE BA-PHUDUHUCWANA TRIBAL AUTHORITY @ 10H00.
1.
BACKGROUND:
Taung Education Development & Support Centre (Taung EDSC), better known as Taung Education Enrichment Centre (TEEC) is an entity of the North West Department of Education (NWDoE) located in the heart of Greater Taung Local Municipality (GTLM).
It is a center that , for more than two decades has been the centrefold of progressive community development with a clear mandate to prioritize professional teacher development through credible in-service training initiatives and partnerships and , in the same breath, to provide meaningful learner enrichment programmes (LEP)for secondary schools within our catchment radius, especially as regards Mathematics, Physical Science and English.
Equally, Taung EDSC is a centre that is committed to responding to the socio-economic challenges within the Greater Taung community, particularly as regards youth development.
The provision of Basic Computer Literacy (TEEC-BCL)and or an accredited IT-End User Computing (IT-EUC) as flagship programmes, is a classic illustration of such an endeavour.
2. PURPOSE OF THE YOUTH MEETING:
The purpose of the Local Youth Information Session was to create a social dialogue among departments around the issue of unemployment among our youth as well as to create a platform where sister departments could meet and interact with the local youth on issues that affect them while at the same time the local unemployed youth would have the opportunity to ventilate their plight and challenges.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE MEETING:
The objectives of the Local Youth Information Session were five-fold as mentioned hereunder:
a) To create a platform for sister departments and other organs of civil society to interact with local youth
b) To offer the various departments the opportunity to share information on learnership, internship, volunteerism and career opportunities within their respective ministries
c) To create a platform for local youth to meet and interact with one another
d) To afford the youth the opportunity to meet and interact with representatives from different departments as well as share their views
e) To develop a substantive database of unemployed youth in Greater Taung that could serve as a Reference Resource for departments that might be willing and able to assist.
4. SCOPE OF REPRESENTATION
The following is a table of departments/organisations that were invited to participate in the Youth Information Session.
NO DEPARTMENT/ORGANISATION REPRESENTATIVE(S) REMARKS
1 Education TEEC [Segomelo IK] Organizer
2 Greater Taung Loc Municipality ? ?
3 Health Mr Solly Manoto Participated
4 Justice Ms Rosy Molale Participated
5 Public Works, Roads & Transport Mr Thabo Modirapula Participated
6 Social Services Ms Letlhogonolo Lekaowa Participated
7 Taung College of Agriculture Mr Victor Salman Sent Apology
5. SCOPE OF INVITATION:
Greater Taung Local Municipality is a sub-district divided into five clusters as follows:
NO CLUSTER REMARKS
1 Taung Central Invited
2 Manthe Cluster Invited
3 Reivilo cluster Not invited
4 Ba Ga Mothibi Invited
5 Thamagane Cluster Not Invited
6. ORGANISING COMMITTEE
This event was, among others made possible by the selfless sacrifice and commitment made by the following young volunteers:
Ms Angy Seleke [073 2579 344]
Mr Thabisho Sethibe [076 2578 184]
Ms S Tsiane [073 0034 392]
Mr Thatoyaone Tobolo [073 8342 207]
Mr IK Segomelo
7. CATERING DONATION
A special word of gratitude goes to the following local businesses and or organizations, who supported the event. We remain indebted to them for their generosity:
CHIPS GALORE [They provided lunch packs for the youth]
D.S RESTAURANT [ They provided juice and soft drinks for the event]
TEEC [ They provided snacks and fresh water for the event]
8. LIMITATION:
Any attempt to interpret and circulate or publicize the contents of this report should, as a matter of precautionary, take into account the following salient contextual factors:
a) That the statistical data in this report is based on only three of the possible five clusters. The statistical data therefore represents only 60% of the intended scope.
b) That the mode of communication in trying to reach the target group was limited, on the main, to school Pigeon Holes at the Education department, flyer displays at Mmabana Cultural Centre and at the Ba-Phuduhucwana Tribal Council, and a ten to 15 minutes Vaaltar Radio discussion slot. Our attempts, therefore, to reach all unemployed youth , even in the three clusters were not necessarily exhaustive enough to claim a wholesale response from all and sundry.
c) That the omission of the other two clusters [Reivilo & Thamagane) was a conscientious decision based on security and logistical reasons. First, the venue at the tribal council , is an average hall and could only accommodate a limited number of attendees. Second, we did not know exactly how many young people are unemployed in Taung and would be willing to attend the meeting. And therefore any speculations about how many would turn up was a wild guess. And as it turned out, we were astounded by the overwhelming response from the youth. It proved to be a real litmus test.
d) That not all who attended had access to or completed the database template that was being circulated.
9. DATABASE SUMMARY
What follows is a brief analysis of the content of the newly collated database:
No Category Number Brief Analysis
1 Matric Only 254 This indicates the number of young people who attended the meeting and recorded that they only possess matric certificate. These may therefore need assistance for further training or job opportunities.
2 Generic Skills 151 This indicates the number of young people who attended the meeting and recorded that they possess matric plus some kind of short courses in one career route or another. Some of these general skills include the following:
I. Security
II. Admin Assistant/ N2
III. First Aid course Level 1/2/3
IV. Fire Fighter
V. Construction/Carpentry
VI. Boiler making
VII. Home Based Care
VIII. Secretarial Course /6months
IX. Basic Ambulance
X. Policing & Training
XI. Brick laying & plastering
XII. Electrical skill
XIII. Environmental Health
XIV. Driver’s Licence
3 Matric + IT 102 This indicates the number of young people who attended the meeting and recorded that they possess some kind of qualification in Computer literacy with the majority indicating IT End User Computing
4 Matric + Nursing 09 This indicates the number of young people who attended the meeting and recorded that they have a qualification in Nursing Assistant and or Home Based Care
5 Matric + Dipl. 20 This indicates the number of young people who attended the meeting and recorded that they have acquired academic qualification in some of the following fields:
I. Civil Engineering (N6)
II. Cost & Management
III. Secretarial
IV. Section Dipl
V. Human resource management
VI. Marketing management
VII. Police & Traffic Law
VIII. Community development
IX. National Diploma (IT)
6 Matric + Degree 16 This indicates the number of young people who attended the meeting and recorded that they have acquired academic qualification in some of the following fields:
I. Bcom. Statistics
II. BA (Hons)
III. BA (Tourism)
IV. BTech (Internal Auditing)
V. BA(HR) (Hons)
VI. Bcom (Tourism Management)
VII. Bcom. (Accounting)
VIII. BSC (Animal Health)
IX. BA (Land Reform & Development)
X. BA(Hons) Tourism
7 User Accounts 68 This indicates the number of young people who attended the meeting and recorded that they have active E-mail addresses. This is also a serious challenge for our community because it means that the majority the young people that attended the meeting are not able to access the wealth of information from government websites including online advertisements for various jobs.
10. DATABASE CONFIDENTIALITY
The database contains personal information about individuals whose private profiles must be respected and protected and, as such, may not be distributed in a disingenuous manner. It shall therefore remain the property of Taung education Enrichment Center (TEEC), and the contents thereof shall be acquired by other organisations or individuals who would be committing to assisting some individuals or groups on the database.
To that extent, the management of TEEC would be willing to engage with the relevant individuals or groups who are willing to offer these young people some form of relief that would lead them to some form of economic activity locally or elsewhere in the country.
11. REPORT CIRCULATION & PUBLICITY
Some of the photographs of the Youth Information Session that took place on 26th September 2012, have already been uploaded to the TEEC online journal. Likewise, this report shall also, after it has been presented to the stakeholders meeting, be uploaded to http://segomelo.blospot.com . Though a personal blog, I have dedicated this online journal to all my work related activities and initiatives.
Other departments and or organizations that might not be in attendance, if identified, would be provided with a copy of this report.
12. POSSIBLE WAY FORWARD
The notion of developing a substantive database of unemployed youth in our community is a noble and progressive initiative. However, on its own, the database if of no value and relevance to the affected youth if it does not translate into tangible and concerted effort by community management and leadership.
At best, this database is intended to serve as a reference resource that the Greater Taung Municipality, government departments and progressive business organizations within the community could use to ignite synergy that is prioritizing empowerment of our young people. A number of possibilities are imaginable in this regard.
13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In conclusion, the management of TEEC wishes to express their gratitude to the following people who sacrificed their time, energy and expertise to come, interact and share valuable knowledge with our young people. Their presence and contribution was invaluable: Messrs Thabo Modirapula (Dept. of Public Works, Roads and Transport), Solly Manoto, TM Tong, Mabe & Abednego Nako (Dept. of Health), and Mesdames Rosy Molale (Dept. of Justice) and Letlhogonolo Lekaowa (Dept. of Social Services).
In the same breath, a special word of gratitude goes to the following young people respectively (Ms Angy Seleke, messrs Thabisho Sethibe and Thatoyaone Tobolo) for the sterling work they did prior, during and after the event. They did the youth of Taung proud.
Lastly, another word of thanks goes to Ms Bonolo Dielelwane and Ms Mmamohau Tebe (current TEEC students) who volunteered their time and skill to ensure that the data capturing process moved swiftly.
Compiled By: Segomelo I.K [TEEC] 31 October 2012.
