EMploymentaccessIMPACTREPORT2019

JOBREADINESS

PROFESSIONALSKILLS

DIGITALLITERACY

MSWORD MSEXCELSMALLBUSINESS

SKILLS

The Employment Help Desk (EHD), the entry-point for clients into the largerEAPprogramme,runseveryMondaythroughThursdaybetween09h00and12h00.Asthe biggest ongoing project; EHD supports clients with assistance in writingcomprehensive CVs, responding to employment opportunities and guidance innavigatingtheSouthAfricanjobmarket.TheSkills Training project consists of in-house workshops and sponsored vocationaltraining. EAP facilitates and runs six workshops: Job Readiness and ProfessionalSkills forworkplacepreparation, Introduction toDigital Literacy,MSWordEssentials,The Fundamentals of MS Excel, and most recently a Small Business SkillsCourseformaleentrepreneurs.ThedemandforComputerLiteracyworkshopsremainshigh.The Skills Training project sponsors selected clients for entry-level, capacitybuilding training courses to support employment success. Key sectors includehousehold assistants and nannies, restaurant and hospitality andconstruction. Additional training, in support of Women’s Platform clientsincluded;Sewing,NailCareandFirstAidtraining.TheJobPlacementService provides a free recruitment service aimed at bridging thegap between employees and employers. Screened clients are matched to variousvacancyrequests frompotentialemployers.WhileEAPstrivestocapacitateclients inpreparation for the job market, a major focus of the Job Placement is to raiseawareness about the service, and to coordinate the interviewprocess with candidates. The service has shown consistent considerable growthoverthepast16months.The Foreign Professional’s Desk (FPD) financially assists clients (who hold tertiarydegrees) with the evaluation and accreditation of their foreign qualification by theSouthAfricanQualificationsAuthority (SAQA);with the registrationor re-registrationto a South African professional council and lastly provides non-financialassistance to foreign Senior Certificate holders to get recognition from SAQA. Theseprocesses aims to enhance access to further education and/or employment in theirrelevantsector.

EAP has had itsmost successful year to date, we can report that over 350clients have received employment in 2019 having accessed the variousprojectsthatEAPoffers.This is350familiesthatcansustainthemselvesandcontributetoSouthAfricaeconomicallyandsocially.

EAPisworkingwithvariousprogrammestodeliverawide-rangingservicetoall clients. In 2019, EAP collaborated with our WelfareProgramme,training30vulnerablewomeninPersonalDevelopmentandJobReadiness under the banner of AMKA (AMKA is Swahili for "wakeup"); conducted several Job Readiness workshops for 117 womenundergoing Women’s Platform’s Sector Skills training. Additionally, EAPcollaborated with Welfare’s Men’s Development Group todeliver a Small Business Skills Course, to 17entrepreneurs inorder to growtheirbusinessandwithanopportunitytoapplyforaSmallBusinessGrowthGrant.

The EAP and Bachelor Academic Support Programme (BASP)combined professional development of both programmes for enhancedcollaboration, effectiveness and efficiency. ProfessionalDevelopment uses acombination of expertise from EAP and academic knowledge of BASP toensureexpectationsofemploymentaremetbybothclientsandstudents.

Acomprehensive JobPlacementServicesBrochurewascreatedand isbeingdistributedtoallinterestedemployersintheWesternCape.Visitourwebsitetoviewanddownload.

As part of SAQA’s Pilot Project to assist clients who do not havealltheredocumentstomeettherequirementsforcertification,EAPsourcedanumberofclientswhofitthiscriteria,andwhowerepreparedtopartake inthe second phase of the project. They had to complete a UNESCO WorldReferenceLevelsSurveyandQuestionnaire.InNovember2019theDirectorofSAQA’s Directorate Foreign Qualifications and Advisory Services(DFQEAS)withapanelofinterviewers,interviewedsixclientstoestablishthecircumstances surrounding their lack of documents and the authenticity oftheir competencies. Feedback received indicates that these clients stand avery good chance of getting the certification from SAQA but moreimportantlyitgivesSAQAinsightofhowtoadoptprotocolsandsystemsthatwouldassistapplicantsinsimilarcircumstances.

Justunder1000newCV'screated

Cape Town’s development andsustainable livelihoods programmes.Through the promotion of an ethos ofprofessionalism and proactivity, EAPprovides refugees, migrants, and SouthAfricans with socioeconomicopportunities via skills training andemployment opportunities to fosterintegrationinSouthAfrica.

OVERVIEW

The Employment Access Programme(EAP) ispartoftheScalabriniCentreof

Having delivered the pilot Small Business Skills Course inNovember 2019, EAPintendstodelivertwomorecoursesformaleentrepreneursin2020.Additionally,successful applications for the small business grant will be finalized, assistingentrepreneurswithbusinessgrowthacceleration.In2020,EAPwillintensifyengagementwithemployersaroundawarenessoftherightsandrequirementsofbothpartieswhenemploying foreignnationals.Thisincludeshostingandawareness-raisingandinformationbreakfastsessionforthehospitalityindustryinMarch2020.

Statistics

ClientsaccessedtheHELPDESK

No.ofHELPDESKconsultations

EMPLOYED

CLIENTSRECEIVEDTRAINING

FPDSAQAApplicationsandRegistrations

SkillsTraining

SCALABRINIIMPACTREPORT2019|EAP SCALABRINIIMPACTREPORT2019|EAP

Isaacwas 25 years oldwhen he left his home, theDemocratic Republic of Congo (DRC) andmade the journey to South Africa, alone. After spending time in Zambia and Zimbabwe, hearrived in Cape Townwhere he is nowpursuing his dreamof getting a Bachelor’s Degree inEmergencyCare from theCapePeninsulaUniversityofTechnology. Isaac reflectsonhowtheScalabriniEmploymentAccessProgrammefittedinwithhisjourney.

BackhomeinDRC,IsaachadcompletednursingschoolandwasworkingforanNGO.Hewasalsoinvolvedinpolitics,butwasawareofthefactthatwhenyouspeakthetruthinacountryfacingpoliticalinstability,youcanquicklybecomeatarget.Verysadly,aneruptionofconflictsawIsaaclosingmembersofhisfamily.Othersfledindifferentdirections.Hemadethedecisiontoleavehishome,withnoideaofwherehewouldendup.Isaacdescribeshisarrival inSouthAfricaasadifficulttime.“Itwasaverydifficultsituation.Myfirst time in Cape Townwas lonely, arriving in a placewhere you don’t knowanyone,with nofamily.IspokenoEnglish.Itwasvery,verytough,butbecauseIwasdeterminedIkeptgoinguntiltoday.”

ThroughtheCongolesecommunity,IsaacfoundtheScalabriniCentreandtherightprogrammetoguide him in the direction he was wanting to go. He joined the Employment AccessProgrammewhereitwasdiscoveredthattheSouthAfricanNursingCouncildidnotrecognisehisqualifications,sohisstudyingventureinSouthAfricabegan.

“I applied at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) six times. I applied, theyrejected,Iapplied,theyrejected,butIkeptontrying.InthemeantimeIwasdoingextracourses,like first aid, nursing courses, basic life support. I was doing that in order to meet therequirementsoftheuniversity.”In2017,IsaacmettherequirementsandwasacceptedintobothRadiologyandEmergencyServices.HechoseEmergencyServices.

It has not been the smoothest journey for Isaac. CPUT does not provide bursaries for foreignstudents,whichmeansthat IsaacworksnightshiftsattheCapeTownMediclinictraumacentreandstudiesduringtheday.Thisdoesnot leavehimwithmuchtime,andhehashadtore-doafewsubjects.WhileIsaacisfocusedongraduating,heremainsawareofthehardshipfacinghiscommunity.“Idon’t justwanttobefocusedonmyself.Sofar Ihavetriedhard,andIamsomewhere,but I’malsothinkingaboutotherpeoplewhoareonthesamejourney.IfIcangraduateitwillbeaplusforme,aplusfortheCongolesecommunityandaplusforotherforeigncommunitiesingeneralas Iwill bebetter equipped tohelp them.Whenwehelpmorepeople,we create thepositivecycleandreducesufferinginourcommunities.”

ArrivinginSouthAfrica

FindingScalabrini

FurtheringHisEducation

StayingPositive

SCALABRINIIMPACTREPORT2019|EAP

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