Youth from South Africa's rural areas have a great opportunity to develop their skills and serve their communities through government's National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC).
The high unemployment rate and lack of skills among rural youth has prompted government, through the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, to start the NARYSEC Programme.
The programme invites rural youth between the ages of 18 and 35 to enrol for training in various skills. This will equip them with theoretical and practical knowledge to create employment for themselves and other people in their communities.
Candidates who have completed their two-year training are expected to give back to their communities by helping develop and empower other community members.
Who can join the NARYSEC programme?
- Four youths including a person with a disablity from each of the 3 300 rural wards in South Africa will be chosen.
- Candidates must be between the ages of 18 and 35.
- Candidates must have a minimum qualification of a Grade 10 cetificate.
Life skills
Puleng Buthelezi from Sicelo in Meyerton was unemployed when community development workers told her about the NARYSEC programme.
She went for an interview and was chosen to join the programme. After completing a training course in life skills, she had to go back to her community and apply her skills to benefit the people.
Puleng, who is now completing a course in construction at a FET college, said the life skills she obtained previously had given her more confidence and will help her to pursue a career in the male dominated building industry.
Benefits for community
“The training I’m getting at the college will last me a lifetime. I now have many construction-related skills, such brick-laying and cement mixing,” she said.
“My community has already started benefitting from my skills; they call us to help them with many community projects. On Mandela Day, for example, we helped old people start food gardens.”
Puleng plans to use her construction skills to also help build RDP houses for her community.
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