When we launched the Job Skills and Entrepreneurship Programme (JSEP) in 2020, our aim was to support young people in transitioning from school into meaningful work, entrepreneurship, or further education. But early in the journey, we realised we needed to take a step back. Before we could support our learners in reaching their goals, we had to help them discover what was even possible.
In Bulungula, our young people grow up in a close-knit and vibrant rural Xhosa community. While the informal and subsistence-based local economies are diverse, lack of access to the formal economy means that exposure to a wide range of professions is minimal. As a result, when our learners are asked what they would like to do after school, they typically mention the careers they’ve seen around them — most often teaching, nursing, or policing. These are valuable professions to pursue, but they represent only a small portion of what is possible. Without exposure to a broader set of pathways, our learners are unable to make fully informed choices for their future. As the saying goes, you don’t know what you don’t know.
Each of us has many types of social connections. As explored by Youth Capital in their publication Linked In: Rising through Social and Economic Connections, our closest relationships — bonding ties — are with family and trusted individuals. These form the foundation of support in a young person’s life, but they may not connect them to new opportunities. That is where bridging and linking ties become important. These are connections to people outside their immediate community or to institutions that can provide guidance, information, and access to resources.
This is why one of JSEP’s core strategic priorities is to build social connectedness through exposure. We know that career development is not only about skills and qualifications, but also about relationships, networks, and access to information beyond a young person’s immediate circle.
We do this through structured career talks, mentorship programmes, and site visits. A recent example was our meet-and-greet with students from the University of North Carolina in the US, through EDU Africa. During this session, our learners met people from different backgrounds and career pathways, practised speaking English in a professional setting, and shared their own stories and aspirations. The structured, yet relaxed, format provided a safe and supportive environment to develop confidence in networking.
Our JSEP’s focus on strengthening bridging and linking ties aims to gradually expand our learners’ social circles in ways that make new opportunities more visible and accessible. It’s an approach we continue to learn from and reflect on. A few years ago, we co-authored an op-ed with Youth Capital exploring what this strategy looks like in a rural context like ours: Bulungula shows how social connectedness can improve economic opportunities for young people. The message remains relevant — connection matters.
JSEP has supported 183 learners, with 81% already engaged in productive activities. But more than the numbers, we are most encouraged by the growing confidence, curiosity, and sense of agency we see in our learners. This is where we believe the programme’s true impact lies. Our learners are discovering new pathways and finding the courage and support to pursue them.