Sioen sponsors TAJO, for vulnerable young people

Sioen helps TAJO, an initiative for vulnerable young people, to achieve its goals. TAJO focuses on young people between 10 and 14 years old and aims to provide an overview of possible careers through interactive workshops. During this three-year educational project, teenagers meet on Saturdays to discover and develop their talents.

Sioen supports TAJO – Talent workshop for vulnerable young people - financially

Inclusive quality education is the best start towards good employment opportunities for vulnerable young people. Thanks to TAJO, vulnerable young people can discover a range of disciplines they might want to work in when they’re older and it motivates them to study towards their goals. Sioen is proud to sponsor their initiatives finacially.

TAJO, every child deserves a chance

TAJO is a private initiative without subsidisation. As social vulnerability continues to deprive people of opportunities, TAJO aims to help vulnerable children towards a better future by motivating them.

Teenagers get a better insight in what the future can bring thanks to attending 30 Saturday-workshops for 3 consecutive years. In TAJO’s interactive workshops, teenagers between 10-14 years old get acquainted with a large range of careers. This helps them to find out which type of job they would like to do when they are older, motivating them at school and in life in general. It is a positive way to “protect the teenagers against demotivation, early school leaving, youth unemployment and radicalisation“, according to the projects’ website.

The project started in Sint-Amandsberg, Ghent, and will now be extended to Courtrai. In the future, TAJO hopes to further expand the project and to involve even more people from different areas.

TAJO competences

The teenagers who take part in the workshops develop the following TAJO competences:

  • Critical thinking
  • Creative thinking
  • Communication skills
  • Working together
  • Informative skills
  • Responsible decision making
  • Working digitally

90 Saturdays of interactive workshops

Young people who participate in the TAJO programme commit to 90 Saturdays of educational workshops spread over three years. Those fascinating workshops are given by professionals from various fields. During the first year, TAJO focuses on broadening some social themes:

  • Art and culture (artist, director, actor, musician, singer, stage designer, dancer, painter, vlogger, …)
  • Technique and innovation (IT employee, programmer, engineer, product designer, …)
  • Based on the input of the TAJO participants, the schedule for the second and third year is shaped. The second year focuses on deepening of social themes, such as architecture as a form of art and culture.

In the third year, the following topics are covered:

  • Media
  • Finances
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Fashion
  • Sciences
  • Tourism

SDGs

By sponsoring TAJO, we help ensure inclusive quality education, as is stated in SDG 4 ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’
Especially targets 4.4 and 4A are applicable:

Target 4.4
‘By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.’

Target 4A
‘Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.’

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