Joburg youth celebrate youth day in style
Thousands of young people braved the cold and turned up for Yfm LYFE concert in the Old Park station in Newtown on Youth Day, 16 June 2018.
Speaking live on Yfm at the event, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Group Corporate and Shared Services Cllr Ntombi Khumalo called on Joburg youth to make use of the opportunities available for them in the City.
She said the 1976 youth fought for equal opportunities like these for everyone to empower and equip themselves with education.
The Promotion of Economic Development and Investment activity is a Mayoral priority, it is for this reason that the City continues to contribute to the National Skills Development agenda by focusing on both internal and external Talent Development initiatives that targets the youth.
“The City of Johannesburg provides skills development opportunities to not only its employees but also to residents of the city. The following opportunities are available to young people in Johannesburg: bursaries, internships and learnerships,” said MMC Khumalo.
She also explained that the City’s bursary scheme is provided to young people to enable them to further their studies at any South African tertiary institution.
The scheme funds undergraduate studies to the tune of R25 000 a year. Adverts for bursaries are placed in national newspapers, community newspapers and at Customer Service Centres during the months of September\October every year.
“A Learnership is a Vocational Education and Training Programme that combines theory and practice, culminating in a qualification that is registered with the South African Qualifications Authority.
“The learnerships target matriculants who are yet to obtain higher education qualifications. The aim is to train them so they can be employable in future. Learnerships are advertised in newspapers when available,” said MMC Khumalo.
The City offers various internship programmes to the youth of Johannesburg.
“An internship is on the job training or experiential learning provided to graduates. The City provides two types of internships, namely: undergraduate and graduate internship programmes,” she said.
Undergraduate internships are aimed at those students, mostly from FET colleges, who need practical training before they can be awarded their qualifications.
To qualify, students should be studying towards a qualification that requires them to undertake workplace experiential learning as a requirement to fulfill their curriculum, said MMC Khumalo.
She said the city also offers Graduate internships which are provided to young people who have already graduated but cannot find employment because of lack of experience. The maximum duration for both internship programmes is 18 months.
The City of Johannesburg is an equal opportunity employer and students are encouraged to apply for internships, learnerships and bursary opportunities. Interested students should regularly visit CoJ website www.joburg.org.za to check for these opportunities.
“If Johannesburg works, South Africa works,” MMC Khumalo concluded by saying.
The day was wrapped up with live performances from local artists and a hot list of DJs
