Kathy Gibson reports – The Maharishi NextUp Institute of Technology (MNIT) was opened today in the Johannesburg inner city.
The Institute bought the building at 56 Main Street thanks to a donation from David Frankel, one of the original founders of Internet Solutions and now an entrepreneur and venture capitalist in the US.
The Maharishi Invincibility Institute, which has set up a high school and university in the inner city, will repurpose the new building to extend its ICT training for unemployed youth.
The Institute already runs an Academy that fits young people for employment in high-value ICT jobs.
The Academy includes a full programme of courses and certifications.
Dr Taddy Blecher, CEO and co-founder of the Maharishi Invincibility Institute, explains that the Institute’s dream is to educate 100 000 unemployed youth from South Africa’s townships and communities, to produce a new generation of enlightened and authentic leaders.
So far, the Institute has educated 25 995 young people, 70% of whom are women.
“Education changes lives,” Dr Blecher says: “These graduates’ salaries translate to 175 000 family members now supported.”
The new building will allow the Institute to tailor training for corporate partners, bringing on new talent and also helping to retrain existing staff members.
The Institute has assisted companies with the training of 18 000 employed people, with 100% of the profits from that training going back to educating unemployed people.
Graduates all take responsibility for another student, and help to teach in community schools. In addition, the Institute has developed an app for distributing training content.
“We have been able to impact more than 2-million lives,,” Dr Blecher says.
The salaries that are earned by graduates puts money back into the economy, and Dr Blecher says the goal is to put R1-trillion back into the hands of people across the country.
More than that, the goal is for the new facility to become a centre of technology education and excellence in the country.
“We aim to create an education town in the heart of Joburg,” Dr Blecher says. This includes facilities like sports fields, parks and arts.
Every student receives a free lunch every day, while breakfast and dinner support programmes are also available. A pre-school is available to assist students with young children.
The Institute is also helping to make the city safer, and is training 500 security students in partnership with CAP.
“We are aiming to create Johannesburg 2.0,” Dr Blecher says.
“Many say Johannesburg is dying, and many corporates have left the city.
“But we disagree. Johannesburg was waiting to be reimagined.”
The aim is to develop an education hub that provides a link between poverty and opportunity.
With artificial intelligence poised to make a huge impact on work, Dr Blecher believes there is an opportunity to seize the opportunities it provides rather then succumbing to the threats.
Maharishi NextUp Institute of Technology (MNIT) is working with partners – and is appealing for more corporates to work with – to build programmes and develop skills for those companies.
Altron has signed up as the first and anchor tenant of the new venture.
Dr Blecher comments: “This is becoming the finest place for young people to come study.”
Corporates can set up an academy at literally no cost thanks to the incentives and rebates available.