Youth

On various occations, the NSTF has provided a platform for stakeholders to hear about DST’s plans and strategies ensuring that youth take up and remain in SET studies and careers.

The NSTF now implements certain aspects of the Youth into Science Strategy on behalf of the DST, namely the National Youth Service Programme, the Youth Incentive Scheme (a bursary scheme), and the coordination of SET Olympiads and Competitions.

The DST’s National Youth Service
The Government initiated the National Youth Service (NYS) as a way to address unemployment among the youth as well as to equip the youth with skills necessary to obtain employment or start small businesses. The DST’s Youth into Science Strategy (YiSS), launched in September 2007, aims to promote science awareness and understanding among the youth, encourage more young people to study in the sciences and engineering, and to pursue careers in those directions. The DST’s version of the NYS programme is designed to assist in the implementation of the YiSS, in addition to the aims of the broader NYS programme, by providing young SET graduates to work at the Science Centres, and training them in science awareness work. (Supporting a network of Science Centres is another component of the YiSS). A Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the DST and the NSTF, which outlines the funding to be provided by the DST over a three year period, (until March 2010) and the NSTF’s obligations in managing the funding and implementation of the NYS Programme.

Placement
According to agreement, the NSTF is the Coordinating Institution for the DST NYS Programme, and the NYS volunteers are to be placed at the NSTF office as well as at 21 Host Institutions, being mainly Science Centres, in all nine provinces. A newspaper advertisement was placed in October 2007 to recruit suitable volunteers for the Programme. Two hundred and twenty of the candidates who applied were qualified, and they were interviewed by the Host Institutions themselves. Each host institution selected up to six candidates depending on the needs of the particular Institution. The target was to engage a total of 125 volunteers, and the initial intake was close to that number.

Six of the NYS volunteers are placed at the NSTF Office to act as Coordinating Team. Two of this group have Human Resources knowledge and experience, and maintain a complete database of all volunteers’ details, communicate with the Host Institutions on HR issues, and assist with administration of stipends and HR records. The other Coordinating volunteers have various specific tasks entrusted to them, among others: to assist with all the arrangements for training of all the NYS Volunteers across the country.

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Last updated: 1 October 2009