Bostonites more than just role models for young women
“The Miss South Africa pageant for 2020 forges ahead despite the limitations of lockdown and after a round of public voting the field has been cut to 15 finalists.” Boston City Campus and Boston Media House are thrilled to have one graduate and one 4th year student amongst these gorgeous finalists! We are rooting for:
Natasha Joubert (22), from Centurion, Tshwane, Gauteng is a Public Relations Officer at RFJ Inc. Attorneys and founder and owner of Natalia Jefferys (Pty) Ltd. She has a BCom Marketing Management Graduate from Boston City Campus.
And of course, we are also rooting for Olin-Shae De La Cruz (26) who comes from Bryanston, Gauteng and is in her final year of a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Media Operations Management at Boston Media House.
Perusing the background of the 15 finalists shows how much the youth of today value higher education as well as entrepreneurship. These ladies are true role models and outstanding examples of leaders.
“Graduation emerges as the best indicator of successful employment in the workplace”. This is evident when comparing the statistics of youth in the 15 – 24 year old category with an unemployment rate of graduates at 31 % while youths who have other tertiary qualifications, a matric and less than a matric have an unemployment rate of 47,5%, 55% and 58,4%, respectively,” states Ari Katz, CEO of Boston. “In our current pandemic that looks set to continue for an extended period of time, both locally and globally, the value of higher education and moreover, a degree, has increased drastically in order to successfully find and maintain employment. “Qualifying with higher education shows your employer that you have staying power, commitment and self-confidence, which is very attractive to companies looking to find new and creative ways to increase production, sales and effectiveness in service”, says Katz. Therefore these ladies have identified for themselves that attractiveness comes in different formats!
While Covid19 has affected all previous stats and reports, the following remains valid, perhaps even more so in this current environment. According to a 2018 World Bank Report Overcoming Poverty and Inequality in South Africa : An Assessment of Drivers, Constraints and Opportunities; a higher level of education of the household head and having access to stable labour market income, are key determinants for households to achieve economic stability in South Africa.
“Living in a household where the head has attained some tertiary education reduces the average risk of poverty by about 30 percent compared to those living in households where the head has no schooling,” says the report which states that poverty also tends to be a more temporary phenomenon for those with higher labor market earnings.
“Our youth need to be equipped to maximise workplace opportunities. As educators we can further equip them with entrepreneurial skills, where our graduates are groomed in leadership, enabling them to start new businesses while contributing to the creation of new employment opportunities which sets up a virtuous cycle of job creation. These two stellar young ladies are amazing role models for school leavers, having committed to and achieved quality education” concludes Katz.
