Earlier this year, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) will continue to be implemented in 2024. This will see thousands of young people work as teaching and general school assistants around the country.
The minister revealed that more than 1.7 million youth were provided with employment opportunities through the PYEI. These young people not only have an opportunity to earn money but also attend skills development training, boosting their chances of employment after the conclusion of their contract.
The announcement has meant that many young people are now waiting for teaching assistant applications to open.
Deputy Minister of Basic Education Dr Reginah Mhaule cautioned members of the public against applying for teaching assistant positions not advertised by the education department.
This is in response to reports that several job advertisements have been shared on social media calling on youth to apply for teaching assistant positions.
Don't be scammed. If the information is not issued by us, it's probably fake
When Is Phase Five Opening Applications?
There have been four phases of the PYEI which saw the creation of more than 1.7 million job opportunities. The programme was implemented in all of South Africa’s nine provinces and saw more than one million young people provided with jobs over its four phases.
The Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, implemented as the Basic Education Employment Initiative across all provinces, has had successful Phases, of which Phase IV concluded in September 2023.
While the extension of the PYEI has been announced, along with a substantial budgetary allocation, there is no official indication of when phase 5 of the programme will commence.
As there is no phase currently active, there are no teaching assistants employed in the Basic Education Sector.
Progress Of BEEI
In the initial phase, 320,000 young individuals were temporarily appointed as Education Assistants and General School Assistants in various public schools around the country.
Youth were trained to eventually be able to enter work in teaching Home Languages, First Additional Languages, Mathematics, Business, Commerce and Management (BCM).
Phase II took place from November 2021 to March 2022, followed shortly by Phase III, which started in April 2022, and ended in August 2022. Finally, Phase IV started in March of 2023 and ended recently, at the end of September.
The Plan for Phase IV was to place 255,000 youth employees in public schools across the country. They managed to reach 92% of that goal. In total, the initiative managed to place 235 939 youth employees.
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