WEBVTT - New study on the power of mentorship 

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<v Speaker 1>Now when we talk about the jobless crisis in South Africa,

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<v Speaker 1>very very often and correctly so we spoke. We focus

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<v Speaker 1>on jobless South Africans, young South Africans who are struggling

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<v Speaker 1>just to get into the world of work at all,

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<v Speaker 1>get that one first job or internship or even short

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<v Speaker 1>term post that would allow them to put on their CV.

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<v Speaker 1>I have experience a very interesting article caught my eye

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<v Speaker 1>and it is a story that has been written about

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<v Speaker 1>the importance of mentorship, the importance of mentors in helping

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<v Speaker 1>young people get that all important job and to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about it, we joined by Sinzelware Tembu, who is a

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<v Speaker 1>researcher at the Center for Social Development which in Africa,

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<v Speaker 1>which is based at the University of Johannesburg. But September,

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome and thanks very much for your time. You've worked

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<v Speaker 1>on the story co authored by your colleague Professor Lauren Graham.

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<v Speaker 1>What made you guys stop looking at mentorship in the

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<v Speaker 1>first place.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm intrigued, Hi, John, thanks so much for having me.

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<v Speaker 2>Just a correction there, I didn't write the article. It

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<v Speaker 2>was Professor Lauren Graham and Professor Aria and de Len Nooish.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought you have done some of the research on it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, I am part of the research team.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, that was what I said the study.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so what made us, you know, kind of think

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<v Speaker 2>about how to tackle this use unemployment issue. I think

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<v Speaker 2>we've spent a number of years trying to understand from

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<v Speaker 2>the supply side, what, you know, who are these young people,

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<v Speaker 2>what are the challenges they experience? And from that we

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<v Speaker 2>learned that they they struggle not only with looking for

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<v Speaker 2>work and finding work itself, but there are multiple barriers

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<v Speaker 2>that they experience. Some of that is around living in

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<v Speaker 2>income poor households, not having enough social networks. We know

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<v Speaker 2>about issues like the high cost of work seeking and

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<v Speaker 2>so there's a real issue about connecting right to livelihood

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<v Speaker 2>opportunities but also to learning, earning as well as other

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<v Speaker 2>services that can help unblock these barriers. And so the

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<v Speaker 2>basic package of support program is a coaching program and

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<v Speaker 2>it provides one on one tailot support. There is a

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<v Speaker 2>holistic assessment that is done. They receive coaching by trained

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<v Speaker 2>child and youth care workers and in that way we

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<v Speaker 2>try to understand the young person and give them that

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<v Speaker 2>tailot support in order to connect them with the relevant

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<v Speaker 2>localized services available. I could go on. There's another component

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<v Speaker 2>of the program that focuses on connecting community stakeholders, and

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<v Speaker 2>so it is an integrated approach to solving for the

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<v Speaker 2>use unemployment issue.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'd like to get that in a moment, but

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<v Speaker 1>I want to just share with people this because I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>this was a substantial pilot program. You worked with seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>hundred young people, Karten case it in and Western Cape.

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<v Speaker 1>Was the footprint that you worked on as you unrolled

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<v Speaker 1>the pilot project. What I'm sure you were learning as

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<v Speaker 1>you were going and thinking, well, this worked really well,

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<v Speaker 1>this worked less well, This is scalable, this is harder

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<v Speaker 1>to do at large scale. I mean, what were the

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<v Speaker 1>key learnings out of this? Because as people are listening,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure a lot of people are saying, this sounds good,

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<v Speaker 1>but can we roll it out at a larger scale?

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<v Speaker 1>What did you learn about that?

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<v Speaker 2>No, that's a very important reflection and one that we're

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<v Speaker 2>also looking into now. We're currently taking part in a

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<v Speaker 2>trace of study, so we're tracing young people over a

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<v Speaker 2>longer period of time and that will allow us to

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<v Speaker 2>one understand the different profiles of young people. We're very

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<v Speaker 2>clear that you know unemployed young people are not a

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<v Speaker 2>homogeneous group. Within that you know, big number, that three

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<v Speaker 2>point four million of young people who are not in education,

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<v Speaker 2>employmental training. There are various subgroups. Some of them have metric,

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<v Speaker 2>some of them have post metric qualifications, and some of

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<v Speaker 2>them have dropped out, you know, before finishing the trick.

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<v Speaker 2>All these young people will require different types of support.

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<v Speaker 2>I will say though that this this approach by coaching

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<v Speaker 2>young people and having this very intensive approach to looking

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<v Speaker 2>at a young person and seeing them holistically, right beyond

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<v Speaker 2>them just being a job seeker, I think it has

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<v Speaker 2>yielded a lot of positive results. We're seeing for this

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<v Speaker 2>particularly vulnerable group of young people who are neat not

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<v Speaker 2>in employment, educational training, that they do tend to need

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<v Speaker 2>a little more support and someone to walk that journey

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<v Speaker 2>with them, understand them, understand their challenges. You know, the

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<v Speaker 2>young people when they came into the program, they were

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<v Speaker 2>apprehensive at first. A lot of them didn't understand, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>what is coaching going to do for me? And I

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<v Speaker 2>think they realized after a few sessions this was the

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<v Speaker 2>thing they kind of didn't know that they needed, right,

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<v Speaker 2>having someone to be a listening ear, having someone to

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<v Speaker 2>guide them having someone who builds on their agency and

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<v Speaker 2>builds upon where they are now. Right, So a very

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<v Speaker 2>asset focused, an asset approach to our assisting young people

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<v Speaker 2>and providing relevant referrals for them. So I think when

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<v Speaker 2>we think about scale one, we need to understand the

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<v Speaker 2>different subsets of young people that we're dealing with and

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<v Speaker 2>provide tailored support. Some will need more intensive support, some

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<v Speaker 2>will need shorter term interventions. But I do think for

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<v Speaker 2>those who are particularly doundle that coaching and having a

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<v Speaker 2>very intensive in person, you know, very close relationship with

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<v Speaker 2>the young person yields positive results.

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<v Speaker 1>Just finally, and and a brief summary, if you can

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<v Speaker 1>give us one with some temper, I mean, where do

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<v Speaker 1>you go next with this? Presumably there are people like

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves who are reading this and finding it interesting, more research,

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<v Speaker 1>more pilots, or do you think you're at a stage

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<v Speaker 1>now where you can say, actually, we have a model,

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<v Speaker 1>let's see if we can build on that.

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<v Speaker 2>So absolutely, I think we've we've done the groundwork, both

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<v Speaker 2>qualitatively and quantitatively to kind of give us, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>proof of concept that there's definitely something to work with here.

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<v Speaker 2>I think the next steps one is completing that trace

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<v Speaker 2>of study so that we can profile young people and

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<v Speaker 2>also get a better sense of what are the longer

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<v Speaker 2>term effects and impact of this program. We are looking

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<v Speaker 2>as well at how can we institutionalize a basic package

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<v Speaker 2>of support approach to supporting young people. So what are

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<v Speaker 2>the elements within this program that we can scale up

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<v Speaker 2>in different forms and using what exists? Right, we have infrastructure,

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<v Speaker 2>we have different government departments, there are different programs that

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<v Speaker 2>are rolling out, but it really is for all of

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<v Speaker 2>us in the youth sector to look at what is

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<v Speaker 2>working and what is giving us the best results and

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<v Speaker 2>to make sure that all of our programs are aligned

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<v Speaker 2>with those program elements that yield the best results.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. I mean, I really recommend people have

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<v Speaker 1>a read of this. It's on the conversation website. Send

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<v Speaker 1>zelwere Tambu is a research at the Center for Social

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<v Speaker 1>Development in Africa based at the University of Johannesburg. But

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<v Speaker 1>let's do some research of our own. I mean, firstly,

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<v Speaker 1>have you had a mentorship relationship with someone mented you

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<v Speaker 1>that you benefited from and you may want to just

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<v Speaker 1>tell us what are the key elements of that, what

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<v Speaker 1>really worked? And secondly, if you either as an organization,

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<v Speaker 1>or you as a part of an organization, shall I say,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe you as an individual, have been involved in

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<v Speaker 1>mentoring people. Because what I liked about this story is

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<v Speaker 1>often when we deal with the numbers, we then refer

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves to other numbers, like the extent to which the

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<v Speaker 1>economy is growing or not, which sector is growing or not.

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<v Speaker 1>But this seems to focus on getting people ready to

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<v Speaker 1>take opportunities where they exist. So I found it fascinating.

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you found it interesting, and in particular, if

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<v Speaker 1>you've got something from your own experience to add another

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<v Speaker 1>layer to what we've just heard, well, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>get that from you. Oh seven two, seven oh two

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<v Speaker 1>one seven oh two, it's four o'clock.