EOH Work Readiness Initiative - Narrative Reports 2014 - 2015 Aug. 2014 | Page 3

INTERIM NARRATIVE REPORT FROM EOH

AUGUST 2014

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EOH is a South African learning solutions provider with specialist skills in
linking educational outcomes to labour market requirements, which is also a key
strategic priority of the South African government. Awareness of the link between
employability, economic growth and poverty reduction has become increasingly
explicit in government policy since 1994. EOH is leading an employer driven
campaign in South Africa to create work opportunities for disadvantaged youth the EOH Youth Job Creation Initiative.
The Rockefeller Foundation is a US based non-profit organisation that seeks to
promote the well-being of people throughout the world. Digital Jobs Africa is one
of several of their programmes aiming to build resilience and promote growth
with equity. A key feature of the programme is linking learners to employment
opportunities in information and communications technology (ICT).
Due to EOH’s capabilities in both skills development, youth empowerment and
ICT services, Rockefeller Foundation engaged them in a 12 month project in
support of Digital Jobs Africa, to achieve the following objective:
▲▲ To train, mentor and place 1,750 disadvantaged youth in permanent jobs
and to develop a web-based workforce readiness training programme to
scale up its Youth Job Creation Initiative
This project commenced on 1 March 2014 and will conclude on 30 April 2015.
The Foundation requires interim narrative and financial reports by September
2014. The primary purpose of these reports is to enable the early identification
of problems so that corrective action can be taken. What follows is the interim
narrative report detailing progress to date against the objectives.
EOH is currently on track to achieving all of the deliverables agreed to in its
Service Level Agreement as will be communicated in this report.
However since the project is only half-way through implementation, it is too early
to report on substantial impact. The report will therefore focus on achievements
to date such as the design, content and methodology of the work readiness
programme, the identification and selection of learning sites and learners,
and progress to date as far as that can be measured, both quantitatively and
qualitatively. The second half of the report offers interviews with a sample of the
beneficiaries of the work readiness initiative to provide a window into the lifestories and implementation context, and potential impact of the programme.

Executive Summary

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