In striving to continuously improve the quality of education, youth employment and skills development, JET Education Services has launched the JETStreamers programme. This JET Education Services initiative is funded through Tshikululu Social Investments.

The JETStreaming capacity building programme in education research received a massive application response from Honours and Masters graduates, and the selection process was rigorous. The programme which commenced in May 2019 will run for eighteen months and includes an employability strategy component. Through the programme, ten young graduate professionals will gain workplace exposure in research, project management and implementation, and advocacy.  This is an opportunity to further develop their critical thinking and leadership skills in the education sector.

Charlene Deacon, Project Mentor of the JETStreaming programme, commented: “The calibre of graduates that we have selected are multidisciplinary, self-driven individuals. Through this interactive programme, we foresee that the JETStreamers will be able to add their voice to effect impact and change in the education landscape through the experience gained from the programme.”

An integral component in the project design is a comprehensive evaluation process to assess how the programme benefits the young professionals. In continuously nurturing young professionals, we foresee the JETStreamers venturing into the education sector in the long term. “To JET’s delight, our diverse and talented group of streamers have dived right in and hit the ground running,” adds Deacon.

James Keevy, CEO at JET Education Services, comments, “We’re excited about the JETStreaming project and the main inspiration behind it was to address the gap in research capacity building and graduate unemployment while upskilling young researchers in education.”

The term JETStreaming takes its inspiration from both the virtual world and the real world. Jet streams in the atmosphere have the power to influence entire weather patterns, and streaming in the digital space can be said to do the same through social media, thus influencing decision making processes around the world. “During and after the programme, our JETStreamers will be doing that and more as social agents of change in the education sector,” concludes Deacon.