Cape Town - The provincial government has launched a programme that challenges the idea of matriculants spending a gap year abroad - and invites the “brightest and the best” of them to make a difference right here.
The Year Beyond programme will use ideas that have been implemented in schools by a number of NGOs, but take them further by training volunteers to apply them.
In 2015 the programme will be rolled out in 24 primary schools and high schools with mass opportunity and development centres for after-school activities.
Each school will receive about four of the 100 volunteers trained to help pupils with literacy and numeracy schools, and homework.
Premier Helen Zille explained at the launch on Wednesday that the idea was to keep children busy after school in the hours in which they could be tempted by gangs, drugs and other social ills - to fill their lives and give them purpose.
“The idea is to keep them busy, keep them engaged and develop a passion in something they like to do,” Zille said.
Matrics should not volunteer because they “don’t have anything to do”, but because it was a way to contribute to society.
“We’re inviting bright youth to take a gap year to make a difference and add enormous value right here.”
Zille said there were many young South Africans wanting to give their time, effort and commitment to such a project.
They will be working with pupils after school hours. In the mornings they will take part in training and at the end of the year they will be awarded a leadership qualification from the Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert Leadership Institute at Stellenbosch University.
One of about 20 volunteers from the project’s pilot programme, Noxolo Ntshangase, 21, said she had discovered the programme online and “thought it was time to give back to South Africa”.
“This is a perfect platform,” she said, adding that it would not be bad for her CV either.
Participating players include volunteer agency Action Volunteers Africa (AVA), high-school academic support NGO IkamvaYouth and the Shine Centre - a literacy organisation working in primary schools and other organisations including Green Shoots, The Click Foundation, Siyavula, Fundza and iSchools.
Zille said the hope was to take on more organisations and in five years to see 500 volunteers working in 100 schools with mass opportunity and development centres.