South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates globally. ORT SA’s mission is therefore:  Making People Employable and Creating Employment Opportunities.

With the launch of the new Sheila and Eric Samson ORT SA IT Academy, in September 2016, ORT House in Johannesburg has become a vibrant hub of teaching and training with an emphasis on 21^st century skills. ORT SA is an accredited Cisco Academy and runs technology-related courses such as computer literacy and computer bridging programmes, as well as technical courses for new-age skills required for careers in IT.

In the last 13 years, ORT SA has impacted 1 200 teachers in over 1 200 schools, teaching more than 104 000 pupils. 1 060 small businesses have been assisted with mentoring and training and nearly 10 000 people have been taught entrepreneurial and computer skills. 

ORT SA is comprised of 3 Academies: The ORT SA STEM ACADEMY, ORT SA IT Academy and ORT SA SKILLS AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY.

• WINNER 2015 Mail & Guardian Investing in the Future STEM Skills Development Award together with corporate funder, Bidvest
• WINNER 2015 African Corporate Excellence Award: Best Teacher Training
• 2016 shortlisted for the Saville Foundation Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education.