Social Development takes the department’s services and programmes to Rhodes University on Orientation Day
Officials from the Department of Social Development will be sharing details about the Department’s programmes and services with first year Rhodes University students and their families on Friday 8 February in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape.
The purpose of the Department’s presence at the institution is to fulfil the mandate of the Anti-Substance Abuse Education and Awareness in Institutions of Higher Learning Campaign.
This campaign was devised as a response to the requirements of students after dialogues were conducted by the Department in a number of tertiary institutions in the Eastern Cape in 2016 and it seeks to educate students about the harmful effects of substance abuse and also to inform them about the resources that they have available from the Department of Social Development.
Similar to the students in the Eastern Cape during dialogues conducted in 2016, at an exhibition held at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology new CPUT learners expressed their wish to be part of an inclusive tertiary community when the Department visited the institution in January 2019. “I’m currently on the waiting list to live in one of the hostels in the campus. I think it would be safer and I yearn to be part of the united culture of the institution,” said Thalia Timm adding that she is grateful to know about the programmes and initiatives from the Department of Social Development.
Part of the exhibitions comprise the Department’s social workers engaging with students and giving them advice on how to handle day-to-day life experiences. Departmental information about how substance abuse contributes to the scourge of gender-based violence and HIV infections was also shared with the learners.
The Department of Social Development is a custodian of the National Youth Policy (2015-2020) which seeks to consolidate youth initiatives that enhance the capabilities of young people to transform the economy and society.
The Policy emphasises the need for various youth development efforts and interventions that holistically respond to all aspects or spheres of young people's lives.
Activations for the Anti-Substance Abuse Education and Awareness in Institutions of Higher Learning Campaign will be continuing throughout the country.
