Business is being asked to sponsor students and help increase their chances of finding work.
The Hubbard College of Administration (HCA) is encouraging businesses to allocate a portion of their CSI budget to sponsoring students to complete its courses.
The college presents a line-up of courses that help low-wage earners improve their personal and business skills, thus increasing their potential earning power.
The business can make a sponsorship contribution from as little as R150, with other options including R750 for partial support, R3 000 will get one student through a course and R60 000 will see a class of 20 workers completing a course.
Each sponsored student is selected through an application process comprising a battery of tests. Their performance is closely monitored and they become eligible for the next course if they achieve a good student record.
The training line up starts with basic literacy courses, then onto courses that help the student handle basic life problems more effectively, culminating in a practical business course, enabling the student to become employable and productive in an office.
While the HCA doesn’t commit to finding candidates jobs, records show that more than 50% of students find better employment during the programme.
In exchange for the sponsored services students receive, they commit to using the knowledge they gain to improve their own conditions and those of others in their home communities.