PYEI BEEI Teacher Assistant Lament Over Non Payment of Stipend– The Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI) is praised as a vital program that gives young people without jobs the chance to work and earn money while developing skills for the workforce. Nonetheless, the lack of payment has disappointed a few young people in the province of North West.
Over a million youth jobs and training opportunities in the education sector were made possible by the program. Adolescents worked as general and education assistants in schools all over the nation.
Concerns have been raised by former general workers and education assistants at Ventersdorp’s Ikhutseng Intermediate School about not getting paid in full.
Numerous individuals who worked as contracted workers from May to September under the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative’s fourth phase assert that they were only compensated for the months of May and June.
Our payments are still pending as of September, having been delayed since July. Since our contracts expired a month ago, we are now worried. We have enquired about our payments, but we have not received a clear response.
According to the North-West Department of Education, the school principal made a mistake that confused the payment system, which is why there was a delay. According to the department, efforts are underway to resolve the payment disparities.
As a department, we have investigated the issue for the last two months, and we are currently working to clean up the system.
The Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) is a part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme. PYEI is a multi-sector action plan/ programme directed at addressing South Africa’s chronic youth unemployment challenge. Of the 1.2 million young people entering the labour market each year, more than 65% remain outside of employment, education, and training. Those young people who manage to access opportunities tend to zigzag on often broken pathways, falling in and out of education and short-term work so that they cannot realise their potential to participate in the economy.
The PYEI has identified several priority interventions to accelerate youth pathways into the economy over the next five years, including the establishment of a National Pathway Management Network, delivery of agile workforce development, support for youth self-employment and enterprise in the township and rural economy, the strengthening of workplace experience, and the Presidential Youth Service programme.
