Pretoria: President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to creating work opportunities for young people while improving the quality of education. The President, in his weekly newsletter today, reflected on recent progress following the State of the Nation Address, highlighting targeted interventions in schools to prepare learners for a rapidly changing world.
According to South African Government News Agency, the President acknowledged the progress made in expanding access to education over the past three decades, noting improvements in matric results. However, he also recognized ongoing challenges such as uneven access to resources and quality teaching, especially in township and rural schools struggling with overcrowding and limited educator support.
A significant intervention to address these issues is the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI), founded in 2020 as part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus. This initiative has created over 1.3 million work opportunities, deploying young people as education and general school assistants, making it the largest youth employment programme in the country’s history. Participants gain critical work experience, assisting schools most in need and enhancing teaching and learning.
Education assistants, required to have a matric certificate, and general school assistants, needing at least a Grade 9 qualification, receive training in various areas, including school safety, financial literacy, and AI fluency. In the latest phase, 32% of education assistants possessed some tertiary qualification, with 14% holding a teaching qualification.
The President emphasized the initiative’s dual role in providing large-scale public employment and generating social value. ‘The work of the education assistants allows teachers to spend more time on teaching and lesson preparation, thereby contributing directly to improved educational outcomes,’ he stated.
Education assistants support numeracy and literacy in 19,000 no-fee primary schools, serving as Reading Champions and aiding digital learning. The programme also enhances employability for young participants, offering practical skills and work experience.
In a broader effort to enhance Early Childhood Development (ECD), the government is rolling out the Bana Pele mass registration of ECD facilities and increasing subsidies for learners. The Social Employment Fund, supporting over 50,000 children nationwide, assists more than 1,000 disadvantaged ECD centres with nutritional support, toys, books, and learning materials.
The President stressed the importance of multisectoral cooperation in fulfilling the constitutional imperative of providing quality education, illustrating the benefits of collaboration between government, the private sector, and civil society.