ABSA announces partnership with Tshimong at the Brightest Young Minds Summit
Absa’s Head of Citizenship, Sazini Mojapelo, announced Absa’s 3-year partnership with Tshimong at the Brightest Young Minds Summit 2017 held at the Protea Inn Hotel in Sandton.
Mojapelo was speaking at the Absa-sponsored summit where she first met Tshimong MD, Thami Pooe, in 2016. She invited Pooe to share the stage with her, and to speak on the investment that Absa has made into Tshimong through the creation of the Absa ReadytoWork Debating Championship, a debating tournament established in 2017 to teach high school learners important lessons about the world of work.
The tournament was held at Randfontein High School, and impacted 50 learners from that community. Learners received face-to-face ReadytoWork training and had to incorporate the key lessons in debates about people, work, money and entrepreneurship skills. The majority of the learners were also 1st time debaters, and left the tournament feeling empowered to start debating clubs at their schools. Learners from Mosupatsela High School in particular went from having no previous experience in debating to becoming semi-finalists. They were awarded the prize for the ‘Most Improved School,’ and shared photos of a new venture they were starting at their school – the Mosupatsela Debating Club.
Absa’s relationship with Tshimong will see the tournament reaching many more learners in Gauteng. Mojapelo has said that the winners would receive university scholarships. And that the tournament could go national, and even continental.