The Domino Foundation's Skills Development programme's vision is to create a platform through education to empower and equip disadvantaged individuals to reach their full potential in their chosen field. It does this by providing access to funding for tertiary qualifications, living and travel allowances and educational resources. Building on the success of the programme over the past two years, bursaries for 2018 were awarded to twelve successful candidates and the students registered and began their studies at the start of the academic year. It was encouraging to see the increase in range of study areas the students are involved in. Five of the students are studying Education and one each Law, Financial Management, Dentistry, Medicine and Media and Public Relations and two are in disabled learnerships.
All the students attended a meeting at Domino where Operations Manager, Shaun Tait, gave an overview of the Foundation. Leaders of the Skills Development programme, Brad and Taryn King, discussed the heart behind the initiative, what is expected of the students and of Domino, and inspired the students for their challenging year ahead. Domino has paid the students' registration fees, fees due, book costs and stipends. The mentorship aspect of the programme, which primarily focuses on equipping the student to maximise their time of study, also supports and walks alongside them to ensure they have the confidence, knowledge and tools required to seek employment once their studies are completed. To ensure relevance and effectiveness, all activities are monitored and evaluated and so a document was set up for mentors to track the students' well-being and progress.
In the process of building confidence, part of the students' programme with Skills Development will include a Toastmasters course that students can be further equipped for their futures as effective public speakers and as strong leaders. Toastmasters' supportive learn-by-doing environment is an excellent vehicle to help the students achieve their goals.
A challenge has been recognised in that the circumstances of Individual students vary greatly. This means that determining needs and how to meet those needs to be on a personalized basis and the formalised mentorship programme will be an effective tool in achieving this. Leanne Barker, Volunteer Manager at The Domino Foundation (volunteer@domino.org.za), would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in knowing more about what is expected of mentors.
This quarter also saw the programme expand its offering to include a three-year funding cycle with the potential to align with the donor's SETA and Business sphere. You can read about how The Domino Foundation partnered with a donor to provide a new method of impacting the manufacturing sector. Read more here.
The Skills Development programme is fully compliant and aligned with the new B-BBEE codes and The Domino Foundation qualifies as a skills development facilitator. The independent Beneficiary Analysis was received from our rating agency, 'AQRate'. If you or your company need to obtain skills development points, please contact Tarin Stevenson (031 563 9605/tarin@domino.org.za).
Opportunities for an increased range of specific skills training are being explored as it has been very gratifying to see the programme expand from purely university and college education into the realm of learnerships as well. The Skills development programme is looking to develop partnerships with service providers in the skills development sphere and is identifying potential new donors. Brad King expects that an increased pool of candidates for 2019 now that the new online application process is operational. He is certain that opportunities for post-school education and training will be opened up for greater numbers of young people who would otherwise be faced with bleak futures.
Individuals or companies who would like to partner with Skills Development in this exciting programme can contact The Domino Foundation on 031 563 9605 or admin@domino.org.za.