With the global economy in turmoil, the challenge is to find opportunity in the face of crisis. This was the sentiment expressed by ABSA Chief Executive, Maria Ramos, at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in September 2011.
Ramos expressed confidence that Africa and Asia have the potential to become the epicentre of the global economy, and our immediate aim should be that of fully unlocking that potential.
Ricky Robinson, CEO of leading performance agency, LRMG, agrees and emphasises the importance of education and skills development as the foundation for future growth and development. "Education is key to unlocking our economic potential. Without a sustainable and focused effort on educating and up-skilling the nation, we will be thwarting a huge opportunity to close the gap between developing and developed economies," says Robinson.
Robinson says it is interesting to note that 50 years ago, most of Asia was as poor as Africa, and it is only in the last 20 years that per capita incomes have jumped nearly 11-fold, while in Africa they have only slightly more than doubled. "Ramos described how 600 million people had been lifted out of poverty in Asia over the last 25 years. This can largely be attributed to strong leadership and a commitment to investing in up-skilling and education. It has transformed the economy from a rural one to a manufacturing one, and I believe as a continent and a country we can do the same," adds Robinson.
Robinson strongly believes in empowering disadvantaged communities through embracing `second chance education` initiatives like those offered by The Good Work Foundation. "The Good Work Foundation was initiated and is run by a dedicated team who believe in building people in disadvantaged communities. They are passionate about South Africa and its potential and are committed to doing their bit in making it the place they believe it can be. Through education and training, they strive to empower people and facilitate them in becoming the best version of themselves. As a performance agency, this is very much in line with what we do at a corporate level, and we are happy to assist with sharing our knowledge and learning materials where we can," says Robinson.
LRMG donates IT and business-skill related learning material in the form of manuals, which assist the Good Work Foundation to up-skill communities. This enables them to enter the work environment and be productive, contributing citizens. Ultimately, the Good Work Foundation is working towards enhancing and contributing towards economic growth in South Africa.
After being in rural education for over a decade, the Good Work Foundation has identified the shortcomings of rural education in certain parts of the country, especially in Mpumalanga. The Good Work Foundation Digital Learning Centre, in Hazyview, for example, operates in parallel with formal education structures and offers advanced online, interactive and self-guided learning opportunities through a number of learning centres in the area.
"The Good Work Foundation Digital Learning Centre offers world-class education at affordable rates to rural students both young and old," comments Robinson. "Its education model is one that creates opportunities for people to invest in themselves and their own futures. We have received a lot of positive feedback with regards to the learning material we have donated, which is very gratifying."
LRMG`s International Computer Driver`s License (ICDL) material has already up-skilled 12 young people from the Madala community in general computer literacy, of which one has been employed as the head trainer and four as ICDL facilitators at one of the learning centres. These five certified ICDL users have gone on to train and assist the second intake of 25 young people to complete the course, and they are now busy with the third intake of 20 people.
"We are delighted to hear that our material is contributing to empowering communities. LRMG believes in the future potential of our country and we are fully behind education initiatives to help bridge the social divide and propel South Africa into being a major global economic player," concludes Robinson.
ITManiaX is a division of The LR Management Group.
The LR Management Group has a certified AAA Empowerdex rating and is a Level 2 contributor to BBBEE as per the DTI`s gazetted Codes of Good Practice.
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