Chrysalis Academy welcomes first students for 2020/21

On Saturday 11 July 2020, the Chrysalis Academy enrolled 78 students into 20-ALPHA, the first male course for the 2020/21 financial year.  The Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, welcomes the intake as it marks the first course and intake since the national lockdown was declared at the end of March 2020. 

An additional seventeen more students arrived today, ensuring that the Academy adheres to social distancing. In total, there will be 95 students on 20-ALPHA. 

Minister Fritz has congratulated the Trustees and Management on a successful intake and will be in regular contact with the CEO, Dr. Lucille Meyer, to monitor progress in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The enrolment of students commenced at 07h30 with a screening for COVID-19. This included the sanitization of shoes, taking body temperature readings and the completing relevant health questions related to COVID-19. Once students were successfully screened, their administration process commenced, which included the distribution of information packs to their parents who transported them and an address by the CEO. 

Minister Fritz said, “I welcome the return of students to Chrysalis Academy as our young people have been heavily impacted by the pandemic.  Food insecurity, gender-based violence, unemployment, are but some of the challenges experienced by our young people.  I am pleased that these young people will now be productively engaged for the next ten-weeks.  I have requested that the CEO and her Management Team be extra vigilant during the pandemic and ensure that they adhere to all the protocols. I wish the students of 20-ALPHA an unforgettable learning experience.”

Students were congratulated on their successful enrolment at the Academy and reminded about the opportunities that lie ahead during the ten-weeks that they will spend at the Chrysalis Academy. 

The ten-week programme will commence with COVID-19 training, three-weeks of orientation including training in Personal Mastery, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership and many others. Students will then complete one-week of outdoor training, four-weeks of skills training, that will include some completing the Peace Officers Course by the City of Cape Town’s Metropolitan Police Academy, and two-weeks of preparation for the world of work.  They will graduate on 18 September 2020 and commence a one-year internship organized by the Department of Community Safety.

Minister Fritz said, “This year, Chrysalis Academy celebrates its twenty-years of existence during 2020. I commend the Academy on its innovative steps taken to ensure the continuation of this life-changing programme which has seen over 10 000 young people walk through its doors and flourish.”

Students come from across the Western Cape and can look forward to an intense period of personal transformation.  Upon their graduation on 18 September 2020, they will be starting a one-year placement organized by the Department of Community Safety to enable them to receive much-needed work experience at a facility close to where they live.

For more information on the Chrysalis Academy, visit its website at www.chrysalisacademy.org.za

Please see English audio clip here: https://clyp.it/lwr5kswv