Born to succeed
SOPHIATOWN – The Deutsche Bank South Africa Foundation, in line with Deutsche Bank's global corporate citizenship strategy, finally launched its Born to Be programme.
The Deutsche Bank South Africa Foundation, in line with Deutsche Bank’s global corporate citizenship strategy, announced their official launch of its Born to Be programme on 20 November at Sparrow Schools in Sophiatown.
The Born to Be programme aims to reduce unemployment among South Africa’s youth, said chief country officer Peter Wharton-Hood.
The programme will be concentrating all its resources into early and high school education interventions, with the ultimate aim of combating youth unemployment, he said. “Our goal, through this initiative, is to equip the next generation of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to become the workforce of tomorrow. This goal is very much in line with Deutsche Bank’s Values and Beliefs of Sustainability and Partnership.”
The Born to Be initiative comprises of 14 educational intervention programmes that focus on early childhood education and high school educational programmes. “We aim to make better people and a better society…We also aim to engage and to get everyone talking about early childhood development,” said Wharton-Hood. The support ranges from teacher training and development, to equipping the youth with developing skills to become the business leaders of tomorrow.
“Encouraging collaboration between our partners is part of the foundation’s approach to ensure that we reach as many young people as possible,” and he added that, “In 2013 we facilitated Brainwave Careers and Sparrow Schools in introducing the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for Early Childhood Teacher qualification as one of Sparrow Schools Further Education and Training (FET) College qualifications in 2014.
The first 10 graduates will finish at the end of this year. Deutsche Bank South Africa Foundation Kirsten Koetsler also spoke highly about the programme and said that Deutsche Bank is committed in making a change in society. “The youth need to want to be educated, each year one teacher can reach a certain number of children,” she said.
She also stated that children need to be stimulated and educated from a younger age.
Dr Lanette Hattingh from Brainwave Careers, which is one of the key early childhood development programmes, said that early childhood is close to her heart. “It is very important because you can fix anything from a young age; we also inspire our teachers to inspire pupils,” she said.
“Wharton-Hood concluded by saying, by sponsoring the Brainwave Careers programme, they recognise that a good teacher can help a person from realising their potential from an early age.
