Tafta turns care into opportunity for women
As South Africa marks Women’s Month, Tafta is celebrating a significant step towards empowering women, through skills development and professional opportunity.
Launched in partnership with QCTO-accredited training provider Wildflower Projects, the newly established Tafta Wildflower Caregiver Academy welcomed its first class in August. This marked the culmination of a busy month of awareness, recruitment and engagement aimed at opening pathways into professional caregiving.
Multiple Open Days held during August gave prospective learners an opportunity to explore caregiving as a profession, engage with the training team and learn more about the nationally accredited Occupational Certificate: Home-Based Personal Care Worker. The response has reinforced the important role that professional caregiver training can play in creating opportunities for women wanting to build sustainable careers from their capacity to care.
Predominantly female profession
Caregiving has traditionally been a predominantly female profession, with women providing essential support within homes, families and communities. Yet the skills, responsibility and emotional commitment involved in this work have not always received the professional recognition they deserve.
Through accredited training, the Tafta Wildflower Caregiver Academy is transforming existing ability and compassion into recognised skills, professional credentials and opportunities for career growth.
Three-way collaboration
Strengthening this pathway further, the Academy has now secured an absorption partner, creating a three-way collaboration that connects training, sector experience and employment opportunity.
- Wildflower Projects provides accredited training;
- Tafta brings decades of experience in the aged care sector and a commitment to innovative solutions for older persons;
- The absorption partner recruits a percentage of qualifying graduates for employment in community and institutional care settings.
The partnership takes the Academy’s commitment beyond skills development alone, creating a clearer pathway from the classroom into the workplace and giving learners the opportunity to turn their qualification into meaningful employment.
Meaningful social development cannot happen in isolation
“For more than six decades, Tafta’s purpose has centred on improving the lives of older persons,” said Femada Shamam, CEO of Tafta. “But meaningful social development cannot happen in isolation. The Caregiver Academy allows us to strengthen the aged care sector while simultaneously contributing to other important areas of societal development – particularly skills development, employment opportunities and the empowerment of women.
“When we equip a woman with recognised skills and greater opportunities for her future, the impact extends into her family, her community and ultimately to every person who will benefit from the care she provides,” she added.
Tafta’s commitment to innovative solutions
The Academy also reflects Tafta’s broader commitment to innovative solutions that respond to the changing needs of an ageing society. Developing a sustainable pipeline of qualified caregivers will help strengthen the capacity of the sector to meet increasing care needs, both within organisations and in communities.
The significance of welcoming the Academy’s first learners during Women’s Month extends beyond the classroom. It represents an investment in women as professionals, income earners, caregivers and contributors to their communities.
Individuals interested in pursuing a career in professional caregiving or learning more about future intakes of the Tafta Wildflower Caregiver Academy are encouraged to contact Wildflower Initiatives on 066 288 7876 or email taftatraining@wildflowerprojects.co.za.
