Silverstar Casino has adopted Thathulwazi WR Secondary School.
It is situated in Rietvallei informal settlement area in Kagiso, into its effective Career Guidance and Development Programme for grades 9 to 12 learners, which has been operating in two Mogale City high schools for over two years as part of Tsogo Sun’s flagship education programme.
Thathulwazi, an Nguni word meaning ‘take knowledge’, opened in 2008 with 768 learners, and has grown to 1,329 learners this year. Last year Silverstar sponsored Thathulwazi to join the Columba Leadership programme, and this year included it in the Career Development Programme when the school proved to have hard-working, focused, enthusiastic, and committed participants.
The Career Development Programme, which is presented by the Education Academy in partnership with Tsogo Sun, starts in Grade 9 with learners undergoing an online evaluation exercise that identifies interests, skills and aptitudes to match personality types and highlight suitable career opportunities, which then guide the learners’ subject choices. In Grade 10, learners attend workshops on topics such as career exploration and subject affirmation, as well as a professionals’ day with Silverstar staff volunteers. Grade 11 workshops cover people skills, money skills, tertiary education options, bursary and application options, job shadowing opportunities with staff, and job-readiness training, which intensifies in Grade 12. Since 2016, Tsogo Sun’s partnership with The Education Agency in five Gauteng high schools has seen 4,161 Grade 9 learners benefiting from the subject choice career guidance evaluation.
Adele Wilson, Silverstar CSI Manager, says, “Silverstar’s aim is to create a platform for these young people to achieve successful careers, with the right education to suit their abilities. Making a career choice is one of the most important decisions people make, and ensuring that learners have sufficient reliable and comprehensive information that is relevant to their unique personalities, interests, and circumstances will positively affect the decision-making process. We believe that providing the Career Guidance and Development Programme to Thathulwazi will impact many learners’ futures – and we have already been impressed at how the learners, educators, and the principal have embraced the programme and are working hard to ensure that it delivers great results.”
Other schools that are sponsored by Silverstar in the Career Development Programme include Mosupatsela Secondary School and Mandisa Shiceka High School, both in Krugersdorp. The programme also incorporates Professional and Job Shadow days where the grade 10 and 11 students are encouraged and motivated by young professionals on the Silverstar staff at their schools, and are given the opportunity to visit Silverstar and be an ‘employee’ for a few hours, getting to understand the nitty-gritty of the working world. Silverstar also contributes to transporting the Grade 11 students to TVET colleges for campus visits and applications.
Says Wilson, “Every child has the right to a good education and the responsibility to grab the opportunities they are given with both hands. The driving force behind our CSI initiatives is the unacceptable youth unemployment rate of over 50% in South Africa. Education is the key to changing those statistics.”
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