National Youth Service Graduate Programme at SAASTA 2024

National Youth Service Graduate Programme at SAASTA 2024

The South African Agency for Science a Technology Advancement (SAASTA, a business unit of National Research Foundation) on behalf of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is inviting unemployed science, engineering and technology graduates (18 to 35 years of age) to volunteer their services towards the implementation of the Youth into Science Strategy under the auspices of the National Youth Service Programme.  Volunteers will be deployed for a period of up to 12 months to participating organisations that collaborate with the DST in its youth development programmes.  A stipend will be paid to volunteers per month as follows: National Diploma NQF Level 6 (R 4 500), Bachelor’s Degree / B.Tech NQF Level 7 (R 5 000), Honours NQF Level 8 (R 5 500), Master’s NQF Level 9 (R 6 500), PhD NQF Level 10 (R 7 700).
Vacancies exist and become available during the year at a variety of organisations in all nine provinces.
In support of the government’s National Youth Service (NYS), which seeks to contribute to the enhancement of the youth as the current and future social capital of the country, the DST initiated its National Youth Service (DST-NYS) programme in September 2007. SAASTA was appointed as project manager by the DST in April 2011.
The DST-NYS programme aims to identify and reach unemployed science, engineering and technology (SET) graduates aged 18 to 35 and place them at host institutions in SET fields for 12 months. They are given an opportunity to gain work experience and life skills, which will make them more marketable and employable. During the year they get specialised training in areas such as Entrepreneurship and Life Skills.
The aim of an induction programme for volunteers is to ensure that new volunteers are given all the help and guidance they need to do their job to the required standard as soon as possible. Induction begins during the recruitment and selection phases of the volunteers, when selected volunteers first make contact with potential mentors of the host institutions.
During Induction, the SAASTA Human Resource team orientates the volunteers by giving them background on the National Research Foundation (NRF) and SAASTA and ensuring that they have proper employment contracts and performance agreements. They are also given pay roll information and are instructed on work performance and behaviour that will be expected of them.