Diepsloot \u2013Yesterday, Diepsloot joined the world in celebrating the 6th annual Lights On After School (LOAS) campaign, which spotlights the power of mentorship and after-school programmes in supporting learners and combating youth unemployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Led locally by The Learning Trust in partnership with YearBeyond, the campaign ran under the theme \u201cInvesting in Brighter Futures.\u201d It highlighted how after-school programmes in Diepsloot help children stay in school, improve literacy, develop life skills, and build confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many learners in low-income community’s face challenges such as high dropout rates and limited academic support. After-school mentors including tutors, coding instructors, and sports or arts coaches \u2014 act as \u201chidden educators,\u201d guiding young people through school and life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMentors bridge the gap between school and the real world, opening doors to opportunities and networks many learners wouldn\u2019t access otherwise,\u201d said Charlene Petersen Voss, Executive Director at The Learning Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In South Africa, where youth unemployment is around 45.5%, mentorship is proving essential. A study by the National Mentorship Movement found that after one year, unemployment among mentees dropped from 73% to 19%, with 71% securing jobs in their chosen field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through YearBeyond, young people are trained as mentors in schools and after-school centres. Over 90% of educators report improved learner confidence, while 86% observe better literacy outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One success story is Alexis Booysen, a 20-year-old YeBoneer from Bonteheuwel, teaching coding to learners in Diepsloot. Her team, Screen Machines, recently represented South Africa at the Coding World Cup. Alexis says, \u201cWatching learners grow in confidence and form friendships is the most rewarding part of this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lights On After School campaign shows that mentorship in Diepsloot is more than academic support \u2014 it\u2019s about hope, opportunity, and brighter futures for the community\u2019s youth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Diepsloot \u2013Yesterday, Diepsloot joined the world in celebrating the 6th annual Lights On After School (LOAS) campaign, which spotlights the power of mentorship and after-school programmes in supporting learners and… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1894,"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/1894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diepslootnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}