There are different schools of thoughts when coming to the topic of education. Some are pro education while others are in support of working without necessarily having a formal education. Although these schools of thoughts hold credible arguments in their own right, many tend to be in support of the school of thought that says “Education is the Key to Success”.
“With the many sayings about education, the one that resounds with me is by Malcom X when he said ‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today’. I believe that through education, we are able to improve business productivity, economic development and above all, education enables us to advance our lives, our families as well as our communities by being active contributors in the economy,” said Ubank Head of Community Investment, Nono Bam.
In 2018, Youth unemployment rate was 54.70% in South Africa, alarming statistics that demoralise our youth. This state of unemployment furthermore impacts and strains on our socio-economic environment and Government’s available resources.
In an attempt to alleviate unemployment in Rustenburg, Ubank, together with Royal Bafokeng Holdings collaborated to establish Thutopele Learnership. This 12 months learnership started in March 2017 and provides youth with opportunities to be up-skilled, gain work readiness experience while formally studying for the National Banking Certificate: NQF level 5.
Thutopele Learnership is administered at Ubank and prepares the learners for positions of Tellers, Sales consultants and in Service Consultancy. At completion, the learners become fully-fledged bankers and moreover, they are sanctioned as Regulatory Exam 5 (RE5) compliant – a compulsory requirement in the financial industry job search.
“The successful learners use learnerships for future employment endeavors, much needed initiatives to aid Government curb future unemployment. A testament that can be shared by thirteen of the fifteen learners who were placed within the Ubank North and Gauteng regional branches after the first intake in 2017. The second intake also had fifteen learners who commenced in June 2018 and will complete their cycle in May 2019. As this point, we are preparing for the third intake which is currently planned for June 2019 finishing 31 May 2020,” said Bam.
In addition, Ms. Bam said that partnerships of this importance resonates with Ubank and she is pleased that the bank is affiliated with an organisation that is so driven and passionate about uplifting its people. “This speaks directly to what Ubank stand for, our passion to empower the Youth, our communities and nurturing these relationships satisfies our organizational values.”
Supporting the youth and providing opportunities to empower and up-skill them will give them the much needed confidence they require when searching for employment and furthermore help them to change their lives for the better.
For more information on the Thutopele Learnership, please see details us on Facebook and Twitter @UbankSA.
