Lerato Makama the center manager of Sam Ntuli mall based in Katlehong organised a successful career exposition, comprising of higher education institutions which came to guide students towards their career paths.
The expo was funded by Sam Ntuli mall as well as a few institutions that took part in the event. The sponsors provided bursaries and give-a-ways which contestants won by answering questions about the present institutions and the mall’s history. Lerato was inspired to make this event a success because she says that “growing up I didn’t have much information about careers, so I wanted to give that one child the opportunity to get information on careers close to home.”
Mziwonke Manyanalala the Secretary-General of Sky Masters Airline Pilot explains that the Aviation Indaba institution mentors the youth that is interested in aviation, they create awareness about aviation and give students advice on where they can get funding as the course is pricey.” The biggest problem students have is finding, most of them would meet the requirements, but don’t have the money to start their career,” says Mziwonke. Ample youth has not been exposed to the aviation career. Before the pandemic, Aviation Indaba would visit high schools and inform students about aviation to get more youngsters intrigued about the career. The institution is based in Kempton Park.
Ekurhuleni Agricultural College was invited to the expo because they offer different courses compared to other institutions. Ekurhuleni Agricultural College’s goal is to attract young farmers as there’s a huge gap and the government is supporting agriculture. “Due to the pandemic a lot of people lost their jobs and couldn’t do anything, but with farming, you can produce food and start selling,” Qhayiya Sandla a student from Ekurhuleni Agricultural College explains. The agricultural field offers a variety of different careers like animal production, breeding, beef, etc. Different crops require different seasons, for instance, “Star cabbages are good for summer and Novoton cabbages can stand against the winter frost,” Thokozani Magagula added. With tunnels or better known as greenhouses, farmers can control the environment in which their crops grow. Ekurhuleni Agricultural College is based in Benoni, Cloverdene.
The University of Johannesburg brought along a scale model car that was built by the faculty of Engineering and the Built-in Environment. The furthest the car can travel is from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The model is a two-seater because it is made for the distance challenges. “The reason this vehicle was built is because it’s independent, it charges itself and it has its own solar panel so it is an electrical vehicle that doesn’t require anything from the grid,” Mitch Dustin explained. The University of Johannesburg was promoting the engineering faculty, but they were also representing the ECSA student chapter which is an NPO that offers presentations on how students can prepare a CV or cover letter as bursaries now require applicants to submit either a CV or cover letter. “The first audience we had were kids they wanted to find out what this is and how it works, although they were disappointed that this is not the actual car and it doesn’t have wheels and they can’t race. It was great having kids showing that we stand out,” Banele Makhazima the Chairperson of ECSA alluded.
Rethabile Motaung and Xolani Mzileni are students from the University of Johannesburg. Rathabile is currently studying Public Relations and Communications which is a 3-year course. Rethabile believes that “It’s important to have events such as this expo because we are not all coming from families that can provide internet access and that can take us to the universities to enquire.” Xolani is concluding his Masters in Operations Management in the faculty of Engineering and the Built-in Environment. Xolani started studying in 2015 with a diploma in Management Sciences. Then in 2018, he proceeded to study for his B-tech in Quality. In 2019 he took part in a foreign exchange program and had the opportunity to study in the United States (Appalachian State University). “We are living in the fourth industrial revolution whereby there’s a drastic change in careers and the need for new skills, so having such career expos, it presents the opportunity to expose young people to new careers,” Xolani expressed.
By Karabo Lekgwate
