Don Bosco Aid through Misean Cara funding is supporting the Salesian Institute Youth Projects Learn to Live School of Skills in Capetown in South Africa. The school has been running for many years, giving life skills support and employment opportunities to youth at risk, living on the margins of our increasingly unequal society.

So it gives us a great pleasure to proudly announce that our Learn to Live school is piloting and pioneering a new progressive methodology in project-based learning (PBL) in order to give our youth access to even greater employability, entrepreneurship and life skills. Because of this, the Learn to Live School has been selected – as one of only four Cape Town schools and just six in the country –  to participate in one of the largest global education conferences ever.

World Education Week is endorsed by the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank and will share expertise and best practice amongst schools across the world. It is launching for the first time, virtually, on Monday October 5 2020 and runs until Friday October 9 2020.

Our long-time supporter, educational expert Professor Tom Ryan, who is a systems thinking and educational pedagogy specialist from the University of Cape Town, will be presenting our Learn to Live School to the conference. He will focus on our new project-based learning approach as part of the culmination of World Education Week at the following time: Friday, 9 October 2020 @ 10am to 11am.

If you would like to register for the conference and attend this session, we would be delighted for the support – and you will, of course, learn about our new educational approach for the school. Registration is free via this web link: www.worldeduweek.org. Just click on this link right here and then click on the red Register button on the website’s home page: it will allow you to register for our session on October 9 @ 10am. Make sure you find that session and then check the time is correct for where you are living.

We look forward to having you with us and sharing this great opportunity to promote our new approach and the work we do.

We are honoured to invite you to join Emeritus Associate Professor Tom Ryan (UCT) and the Learn to Live School of Skills, as part of a global showcase of 100 schools 5-9 October.  Learn to Live School of Skills is one of only seven schools in South Africa handpicked to join the collective showcase of 100 schools gathering online. The speaking slot to watch at this free virtual event is Friday, 9 October at 10am (GMT) – registration can be completed on Eventbrite.

With the theme for World Education Week being ‘Learning Today’, Learn to Live will share more on their programme related to enhancing employability, entrepreneurship and life skills for vulnerable youth in South Africa. This collective of schools will band together in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on Quality Education (SDG 4). The event is an effort by 30 civil society organisations, led by a globally respected driving force in the education, international development, philanthropy and technology sectors, Vikas Pota.

Working closely with the South African National Department of Education, Assoc Prof Ryan supports the Ecubed Programme promoting Entrepreneurship, Employability and Education. Equipping every learner to be an active participant in the world of work and to lead a fulfilled life. During the Learn to Live School talk, Assoc Prof Tom Ryan will be presenting the Learn to Live School of Skills methodology of project-based learning (PBL). This programme is fundamentally shifting the school to a methodology that adds value, life skills and employability potential to SA’s marginalised youth. It is currently the only independent school of skills in the Western Cape.

You can watch the film from the event in the link below.

Fr Patrick Naughton