The Step Up 2 a Start-up programme now in its fourth year, is all about young people tapping into existing knowledge available in order to learn, grow and build on their skillset. Launched in July, the programme has now begun its second phase in order to help thousands of young South Africans who face a future without work.
Starting from 12 August 2017, schoolchildren in grades 9 to 11 will begin their journey into the world of entrepreneurship through the movie titled Vukuzenzele, which will be screened at 15 Ster-Kinekor cinemas nationwide over a period of five weeks.
Each schoolchild will receive a Toolkit, which will assist them in implementing the skills learnt through this educational film, and allow them to develop their own business ideas and models, including a number of children from schools in Diepsloot.
This year, the Step Up 2 a Start-up programme will focus on social entrepreneurship, where schoolchildren will be asked to find innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social and environmental problems, centred around the concept of Seeking Opportunity, Connecting People and Creating Sustainable Value.
Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss to improve systems, invent new approaches and create solutions to change society for the better.
As the programme enters its second phase, children will be given the opportunity to compete in an entrepreneurial competition by submitting their business model canvasses for assessment and adjudication by a panel of industry professionals and sponsors.
During this process, at least nine top business models will be identified and the teams responsible will be invited to attend a boot camp in Johannesburg. This boot camp will hone and polish participants’ skills as they start to think more about developing and starting their businesses based on the ideas they submitted. The boot camp concludes with a prestigious gala dinner and awards ceremony.
The sky is the limit and Primestars believes that given the right assistance from passionate individuals and organisations, our youth will be able to create and develop new businesses, which in turn will have a positive impact on the economy and reduce the rate of youth unemployment in South Africa.
All we need to do is to open young people’s eyes to the fact that there are infinite possibilities available to them.
Details: For more information about the Step Up 2 a Start-up programme, visit the Primestars Marketing Facebook page.
