While specialist schools can broaden the scope of academic and practical skills for special needs pupils, they are often left with few prospects at the end of their schooling. The Career Path Academy, established by AGT Foods, however, is equipping graduates with practical work skills to bolster their employability.
Unity College offers special education to children and young adults with significant learning challenges. The school was established 33 years ago and some of our graduates are still in contact with us, updating us on their post-school successes. A number of our teachers have been with us for more than a decade, and many of our long-term students have also been with us for over 10 years.
Our school is situated in the quiet area of Chartwell North, near Fourways. The tranquil setting among agricultural holdings ensures a peaceful and structured environment. Our current enrolment is between 70 and 80 pupils, and we continue to grow year-on-year. We have buses that transport many of our pupils to school and back home again.
Special Education at Unity College
There are many reasons for a pupil to be enrolled at Unity College. We have pupils with cognitive delays, some are autistic, have various genetic disorders, have been injured at birth or in motor accidents, or have other challenges. The type of disability is not a criterion for enrolment. If we can help a child or young person and they fit into the school, we gladly welcome them. We enrol pupils from the age of 3 to those in their early 20s.
Opening the doors to learning
Some of our pupils attend school to learn basic skills for living. Others strive for a certified exit point through writing the IEB Adult Education and Training Examinations. This is a flexible examination programme that allows pupils to move through various levels of English and Mathematics at their own pace. Once they have reached level 4 in both English and Mathematics, they have attained certification at the level of NQF 1, which opens doors for further tertiary learning.
Centre for Living and Vocational Skills
We are opening a Centre for Living and Vocational Skills in 2024 for trainees in their late teens and early 20s, who have reached their academic potential and need to move on to something that develops independent living skills and basic vocational skills.
The aim is to teach as many skills as possible, according to ability, to foster independent living and to enter the world of work, whether it be in sheltered or semi-sheltered employment, or in the open job market.
AGT Career Path Academy
Unity College partnered with AGT Foods, a multi-national company that processes and sells grains, legumes, spices, and related products. The company took a leap of faith by establishing the AGT Career Path Academy on the Unity College grounds in 2022 and employed a small team of eight trainees (Unity College graduates) on a two-year contract.
Their job was to hand-sort foreign objects and imperfect products from bulk deliveries. Our special needs adults are good at mastering and repeating single tasks. Although progress was slow at first, the pace picked up. Later, measuring and weighing spices were added to the range of tasks done at the AGT Career Path Academy.
The team are employees of AGT, who receive a basic wage and have tax numbers. They must apply for leave and submit doctor’s notes if they are off sick. They learn all about how the real world of work operates and adjust their lives accordingly, right down to learning how to manage their budgets.
Further education
In the second year (2023) of the team’s contracts, a training programme to raise the team’s literacy levels was introduced. Adult Education and Training (AET) Level 1 by Triple E Training teaches Literacy and Numeracy at a grade 6 or 7 standard.
Unity College appreciates the commitment of AGT to the future of this team of special needs young adults. It is inspirational to see our graduates building on their education.
Beyond the AGT Career Path Academy
Unity College’s aim is to graduate pupils with skills to cope beyond school. AGT has taken this one step further. At the end of their contract, the trainees will have work experience in a production-line environment. They will have learnt the discipline and life skills required for successful employment – such as arriving on time, meeting targets, managing their budgets, applying for leave, getting a tax number and so much more.
With real workplace experience to put on their CVs, the graduate trainees are infinitely more employable. We are now looking for the next team to start their two-year contract with AGT.
Offering hope
The true value of their time with AGT goes far beyond working at a sorting table or measuring and weighing spices. AGT’s faith in our people has given them hope where there was previously very little. They are inspired by how much they can do and the value they can add to the working world.
Possible further employment opportunities are in production- line work, sorting (which can cover a variety of applications), weighing, packing according to weight, and packaging. However, having workplace experience can also open other doors, depending on the level of functioningand interests of the graduate.
Other community partnerships
Unity College has realised the value of sorting as a skill. Not only has that become apparent through our relationship with AGT, but also through our relationship with the Sweethearts Foundation, an organisation that collects bread tags and plastic bottle tops to sell to recyclers.
The money raised buys wheelchairs for children whose parents cannot afford to buy them. If the bread tags are sorted by colour, they have a higher value. We sort the tags into colours as part of our work experience programme and then return them to the foundation.
The role of business
Our hope is that other companies see the value that employees with special needs can bring to their teams. When society sees the value and contribution made by members of this community, it will change perceptions of what they can offer.
From big corporations to small businesses, there are possibilities to provide inspiration for other young people who are hungry for the opportunity to learn and work. There is also hope for parents of differently abled children, who may have contacts and ideas that come about from reading about the relationship AGT has with Unity College.
What is happening at Unity College can be replicated in other schools around the country. This is where Boards could come in, motivating their networks to support future employment initiatives.
To schools
No two special needs schools are the same, but we all have the same goal – to empower our graduates to be as independent as possible.
Approach local industries and businesses that you think may have a need for the type of skill your graduates can offer. Usually they have not even thought about how our graduates could fill positions in their organisation. Speak to them – see what skills they need and build a pipeline of possible employees. If schools and businesses work collaboratively with open minds, only good can come out of these win-win relationships.