28 Mar 2022

Stepping Stones International (SSI) has called on interest groups and companies to partner with them in training and availing decent jobs as well as entrepreneurial opportunities for young people. 

Speaking at a breakfast seminar in Gaborone recently, SSI Executive Director, Ms Lisa Juma said their Finding the Leader Within programme, which was supported by USAID, prepared young people for employment.  

Ms Juma said it also taught them basic workplace skills, which included how to interact with people, principles of answering a phone within the work setup; how to use a computer, how to construct a perfect email and the basics of starting a business, among others. 

She said young people aged 18 to 25 years spent six to nine months in the programme, where they were groomed. 

She said over the years, they had trained more than 4 000 young people and the most outstanding outcome was ‘the light bulb in their brains that turns on and shines brightly whenever they seek employment and are ready to work hard’. 

Ms Juma added that 60 per cent of those who went through the programme either went back to school, attained employment, or started businesses. 

She urged companies to understand the benefit of adopting a young mind as part of their employees, as most were easy to mould into the kind of employees companies wanted. 

She said they were also less expensive as opposed to personnel with vast experience within the market. 

“Young people can learn and adapt to technology whereas some of the older people are still struggling and asking children how to use technology,” she said. 

Ms Juma said every individual had their own needs therefore, the  programme did not employ a one size fits all approach, but each learner was trained according to their needs and interests. Ends