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Vibrant Community Projects hosts career day in Lanseria

Regina Pazvakavambwa
By Regina Pazvakavambwa, ITWeb portals journalist.
Johannesburg, 26 Aug 2016
Students gathered at the Vibrant Community career expo.
Students gathered at the Vibrant Community career expo.

Non-profit organisation Vibrant Community Projects, in partnership with Potters Hand Activations, is holding a three-day career expo to expose students to potential careers and tertiary opportunities.

The expo is being hosted as an interactive exhibition and workshop in Lanseria at the Refilwe Community Hall and at St Ansgars School.

It is targeting Grade 9 to 12s who live in local townships including Soweto, Joe Slovo and surrounding areas.

Various individuals, organisations, and national profit organisations will present talks and workshops.

The three-day expo started on 24 August and will end on 26 August.

According to Katja Schmidt, event director at Potters Hand Activations, over 1 000 learners were attending.

"Our hope is to attract more partners in order to help us increase the width and depth of our reach in years to come."

According to Chido Muparutsa, outreach and research coordinator for Digify Bytes, a company that participated in the career day, it is important to give the youth as many career options as possible so they can map out their journey to becoming whatever they envision for their future careers.

The particulars and ideas that each sector shares during these career expos will give the students the opportunity to interrogate, affirm and build their careers in an informed way, she says.

Matthew Kibby, regional director at VMware Southern Africa, who made a keynote address to pupils, says the company had discussions with hundreds of pupils and shared information with them about the ICT sector, and possible careers.

"We hope to influence the thinking of the learners and expose them to more possibilities in life."

Kibby says about 80% of the pupils expressed an interest in a career within the ICT sector.

"Although a lot of students are interested in the ICT sector, the schools desperately need maths and science tutors to help improve their marks in order for them to get into the sector."

The main issues the company encountered and observed were the low level of mathematics skill, which is a nationwide challenge, but especially more so for children within the specific community where the expo was held, says Kibby.

Simple discussions such as the importance of maths, and programming languages that can be learnt online, will go a long way to aid learners, he continues.

"Many of these kids sleep at school as there is no transport to take them home, should they want to stay for any type of extra lessons. There is very little support for them, and kids that struggle are left behind."

It is the same challenge that many schools, especially the disadvantaged ones, face: not enough teachers and classrooms filled beyond capacity, says Kibby.

The reality is that without assistance they will not achieve the marks required to get into tertiary institutions, he asserts.

"Another challenge for most of the learners is lack of connectivity and tools to connect. Many of them don't have two meals a day, never mind a laptop at home. They are in dire need of a computer lab - something many schools take for granted.

"Our focus is to introduce the youth to a new world of opportunities where digital can be a career option, as well as a means of storytelling and building a personal brand identity," says Muparutsa.

The career expo has created a platform where the students can reimagine their careers, she explains.

"It is our hope that through facilitating our sessions we have sparked an interest in ICT and we will see many of the students who have been considering a career in ICT having the confidence to take digital on."

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