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300 000 Education Assistants & General School Assistants
THE BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT URGES SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH TO REGISTER ON SAYOUTH.MOBI AS THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR STARTS NEXT MONTH
Applications for Phase IV of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative will take place next month. The Department of Basic Education calls on all youth of South Africa who are in the ages between 18 and 34 to register on sayouth.mobi which is the online recruitment system that is used by the government to manage youth unemployment. The system is zero-rated and does not require data. The system improves transparency, reduce bias, subjectivity and non-compliance to the requirements of the initiative. The pre-application window will be open from 5 September 2022 until 16 October 2022, which will give every young person six weeks to place their application, in a fair and open system. Of the six weeks, the first three weeks are for the young person to prepare themselves by gathering all documents and information required.
The applications officially open for all young South Africans on 26 September 2022 and will close on 16 October 2022. This provides the youth of South Africa three weeks to place their application on sayouth.mobi. The Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) implemented in the Basic Education sector Phase III will conclude at the 31 August 2022 with NO EXTENSION.
The Presidential Youth Employment Initiative in the Basic Education sector enters the fourth
Phase in 2023. The Presidency, the Department of Basic Education and Provincial Education Departments wish to extend their gratitude to all the youth that participated in Phase II and III of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) in the Basic Education sector. The youth are encouraged to continue using the skills, competencies and knowledge that were acquired through this initiative. The Ministry wants to wish you well in your future plans.
The department seeks to provide 300 000 unemployed young people, (+/-192 000 Education Assistants and +/- 95 000 General School Assistants) employment and training opportunities in the education sector, as part of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI)-Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI), which forms part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES), seeking to mitigate the devastating economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Youth between the ages of 18 and 35, who are currently neither in education/ training nor receiving any form of a government grant, as well as young people with disabilities and women, are eligible and encouraged to apply for this enriching experience. Candidates who are selected for placement will have an opportunity to receive training on various skills that will equip them for future employment opportunities.
All successful candidates will be placed in schools for 5 months, from 1 November 2021 to 31 March 2022, for the following available opportunities:
- Education Assistant – Curriculum
- Education Assistant – ICT/e-Cadres
- Education Assistant – Reading Champions
- General School Assistant – Child & Youth Care Worker
- General School Assistant – Handyman (no matric required)
- General School Assistant – Sports and Enrichment Agent (no matric required)
To qualify as an Education Assistant, you must have passed matric English, while an NQF Level 4, 6 and 7 qualification certificate, will be an added advantage. However, for placement as a General School Assistant, a matric certificate is not required for Infrastructure support and Sports and Enrichment Agents, although Trade certificates will be an added advantage.
To work in the education environment, you must have a good ability to work with people, and within groups, have good communication skills and be a good listener and have an interest in academics.
To apply for a placement, young people are urged to visit sayouth.mobi to create a profile and submit their application. No walk-ins will be allowed in schools due to Covid19 restrictions.
Applicants must submit their applications online.
- Should you receive notice that you have been selected for shortlisting, you will be required to prepare the following documents:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Testimonials (former school, the local chief, church leader, etc)
- Police clearance certificates
- Affidavit/Declaration by the applicant stating he/she has no criminal record while awaiting the Police clearance
- Certified qualifications such as Matric, (where applicable: NQF Level 4 qualification certificate, for Education Assistant applicants with NQF level 6 and 7 an added advantage)
- Certified copy of identity document/ passport
As in Phase I, there will be a strong emphasis on training participants, with a view to adding to their skills set, as well as setting them up for improved employment prospects. Young people recruited for Phase II of the Basic Education Employment Initiative can expect to receive training in the following areas:
e-Cadres/ ICT Support
To work in IT, one has to be computer savvy and enjoy working on IT systems. The e-Cadres will add value in the classroom by assisting teachers and learners with troubleshooting ICT equipment and uploading educational content on learners’ and teachers’ devices. The need for this transformation is critical and timely, given that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need to move towards a digital future, where lessons can be provided virtually. When learners and teachers receive the right support for digital learning, the response is often noticeable. e-Cadres will be deployed in all public schools.
Child and Youth Care Workers (CYCW)
Child and Youth Care Workers (CYCW), will provide learners with much-needed psychosocial support within a COVID-19 environment. Psychosocial support is critical, even on an elementary level, as it will assist in reducing the risk of learners dropping out of the system. It can also contribute to an improvement in learner behavior and academic performance.
Reading Champions
Reading Champions will contribute towards improving the culture of reading and literacy rates among learners. Reading Champions deployed in the Foundation Phase will also make a contribution towards improving early grade reading. In Phase I, Reading Champions assisted in reviving school libraries, initiating reading clubs and creating reading corners. This is in line with the sector’s priority of improving early grade reading.
Infrastructure maintenance
As in Phase I, there will be a continued focus to support schools in infrastructure maintenance. This will be done by allocating handymen to schools where they are most needed. This cadre of youth will be provided with the necessary training to ensure that they provide good quality work.
Learner Support Agents will be appointed among the General School Assistants to support the implementation of sports, arts and culture activities in public schools.
Sports and Enrichment Agents
Phase II of the Initiative includes a new category for recruitment, which will see young people who are keen on sports enrichment programmes. To participate as a Sports Enrichment Agent, one must be fit, active and have a keen interest to assist schools with facilitating cultural and sports activities
Overview of Phase I of BEEI
Phase I of the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) was successfully implemented from 1 December 2020 until 31 April 2021, in the basic education sector as the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI). Approximately 300 000 young people participated in Phase I of the BEEI.
Phase II will focus on addressing the reduction of youth unemployment, as the data collected throughout the initiative has shown that most of the young people are unemployed graduates, who lack the relevant experience to propel them to employment.
The BEEI initiative will go a long way in assisting the department to mitigate the unfortunate fallout from the COVID-19 academic disruptions we have experienced since the first 2020 national lockdown aimed at containment of the pandemic. The Initiative also aims to provide a protective net for learners at risk of dropping out of school, due to psychosocial challenges.
Through phase, I of the initiative, the data collected after placement of the youth, indicated that a noticeable number of unemployed youth placed on PYEI-BEEI had qualifications in various fields. Phase II will also provide experiential learning, whilst ensuring that those who studied Education or are interested in Education as a field of study, will be directed to paths that will lead them back to the sector.