19 July 2010
The South African government aims to create up to 10 000 job opportunities in the country’s rural areas through the National Rural Youth Service Corps, which will see unemployed youngsters being put to work in their communities after undergoing an intensive two-year training programme.
The National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSC), recently launched by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, will target people in South Africa’s remotest rural areas, including those living with disabilities, who are between the ages of 18 to 35 and who have passed Grade 10.
The department’s head of communications, Eddie Mohoebi, said the NARYSC is a two-year programme aimed at empowering rural youngsters from each of the 3 000 rural wards across the country.
He said the programme is expected to create job opportunities for at least three youths in each of those identified rural wards.
Intensive training programme
Mohoebi said successful candidates would undergo an intensive training programme, based on needs identified during the induction, and would receive a monthly stipend for the two-year duration of the programme.
After the completion of the two-year training programme, candidates will work in their communities providing services in local socio-economic development.
“The recently developed NARYSC will complement the department’s job creation model, which targets and ensures that at least one person per household in the rural areas where the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) is being piloted, gets employed for two years with an employment linked to skills training,” he said.
Sustainable rural communities
Mohoebi added that the job creation and skills development programme was in line with the department’s rural development mandate to create vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities throughout South Africa.
Potential candidates seeking more information about the programme can contact the department’s toll-free number 0800 007 095 or visit the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform website.
Source: BuaNews
