According to Jaryd Raizon from The Knowledge Trust, the youth in South Africa represent about 60% of the population and currently, 63.1% of those young people are without employment or not at training or education institutions.
Which is a large percentage of individuals who are not economically active, not able to support themselves and their families, and not able to support their communities.
Raizon believes that as a country, "we will never progress towards an inclusive and prosperous society" until "we include every single person".
At the Knowledge Trust, an organization that focuses on making education more accessible to more people, they help young people get learnerships, internships and bursaries. Their main focus, however, is learnerships.
A learnerships is structured as a "learn and earn programme", which generally takes place over 12 to 18 months.
In doing a learnership, the individual will be able to study and gain experience at the same time.
Raizon stated that learnerships are important as they tick three boxes, namely the income gap, skills gap and experience gap.
If the student went the traditional route of studying at a college first then they would have to complete their students before getting a job and gaining experience.
And to get a job, you need experience, which is why learnerships are so helpful because they help young people get their qualification, gain experience, and earn money all in one go.
The organization is a huge proponent and advocate for more organizations in South Africa that offer learnerships.
They believe that helping youth in South Africa get learnerships, will be an efficient way to help them take the next step towards a bright future.
