President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed government’s commitment to creating work opportunities for young people, while improving the quality of education.
The President on Monday said targeted interventions in schools are helping to prepare learners for a rapidly changing world.
In his weekly newsletter today, following the recent State of the Nation Address, the President reflected on progress made in expanding access to education over the past three decades, including steady improvements in matric results. However, he acknowledged that significant challenges remain.
“Access to resources and quality teaching is uneven. Schools in townships and rural areas often struggle with overcrowding and educators have limited access to professional development and support,” the President said.
A key intervention to address these gaps is the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI), which was founded in 2020 as part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus. The initiative deploys young people to schools as education and general school assistants.
To date, the programme has created more than 1.3 million work opportunities, making it the largest youth employment programme in the country’s history. It provides young people with critical work experience, while reinforcing teaching and learning in schools that need support the most.
General school assistants are required to have at least a Grade 9 qualification, while education assistants must have a matric certificate. In the most recent phase of the programme, 32% of education assistants had some form of tertiary qualification and 14% held a teaching qualification. Participants receive both compulsory and optional training in areas such as school safety, online safety, financial literacy, word processing, AI fluency and coding.
The President said the initiative advances the objectives of the Public Employment Stimulus by delivering large-scale public employment, while generating social value.
“The work of the education assistants allows teachers to spend more time on teaching and on lesson preparation, thereby contributing directly to improved educational outcomes,” he said.
Education assistants have been placed in 19 000 no-fee primary schools, where they support numeracy and serve as Reading Champions to improve literacy and bilingual reading. According to the President, improvements in foundational literacy skills are already being observed in many schools.
In addition to curriculum support, assistants contribute to digital learning, provide care and support to at-risk learners, and serve as laboratory and workshop assistants.
The programme is also having a transformative impact on the young people involved, equipping them with practical skills and work experience that enhance their employability and career prospects.
As part of broader efforts to expand access to Early Childhood Development (ECD), government is rolling out the Bana Pele mass registration of ECD facilities and increasing subsidies for ECD learners. Through the Social Employment Fund, support has been extended to the ECD sector.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, working with an implementing partner, is assisting more than 1 000 previously disadvantaged and underfunded ECD centres to meet subsidy requirements. These centres are receiving nutritional support, as well as toys, books and learning materials. The Social Employment Fund now reaches over 50 000 children in ECD centres nationwide.
The President emphasised that fulfilling the constitutional imperative of providing quality education requires collaboration across society.
“These initiatives illustrate clearly the benefits of multisectoral cooperation between government, the private sector and civil society.
“It is our aspiration that this successful programme should continue to grow as we strive to create more work opportunities for young South Africans and at the same time, deliver quality education for all,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za
