A newly established skills centre at the old Sir Lowry’s Hotel in Sir Lowry’s Pass is in full swing and has already enrolled dozens of youth. They are now being given the chance to learn and develop skills to make it easier for them to find employment.
It’s being a called a “village collaboration” following the support from individuals, businesses as well as the Farm Watch, who together have overseen the sponsorships of materials, equipment and resources to ensure daily learning at the premises.
Colleen Pienaar, who’s vision for the centre has always been to help the unemployed and empower the underprivileged (“Ou hotel word baken van hoop,” DistrictMail, 3 February). This week, she said that classes are split into various curricula according to the different needs. Students who apply are mostly out of school, but some are as old as 50, and most importantly everyone is welcome.
They first go through an assessment to determine their literacy level before being enroled in a suitable course. Courses are at least one year long, and up to three years dependant on how far the students wish to go.
The village collaboration has also received the support from Edunova – a NGO who focuses on effective use of Information Communication Technologies in schools, situated in disadvantaged communities across South Africa. “Thirty-four students have enrolled in the Edunova programme, where they learn the full Microsoft Office applications including advanced levels on how to build an app,” said Pienaar. “From here they go to different schools where they assist teachers and students with the skills they’ve learnt, and already one of our students has received a job offer at a school. So we’re really optimistic on the success of this initiative.”
One of the teachers, Jolin Janse, said that one of the courses is a basic introduction to computers, which teaches basic functions such as email and google drive applications.“The response from the students has been very positive,” she said. “They are eager to learn and prepared to put in the work, as they realise the benefits of upskilling and are motivated by the potential job opportunities.”
One of the students, Raylene Abrahams, said she is enjoying working with her fellow students in a team, helping one another with the modules and assignments. “I’ve gained a lot of experience in IT,” she enthused, “and now we started with project management, which I enjoy, and also digital marketing. It’s progressing well and we’re working hard every day.”
Students also receive a certificate on completion of the course.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg, according to Pienaar.
She said from next week a home-based care programme, which will teach a different group of students the basics of health related services and caring for others.
“We’ve seen remarkable interest from the community as the word spreads throughout the village,” Pienaar said. “It’s refreshing to see the progress made and very motivating to notice how students are grabbing opportunities. We are committed to seeing this project grow and be successful.”
