MEMBERS of Sakhi Kamva Development Foundation, in partnership with the South African Skills Development Foundation, hosted their second annual rural career expo at Clarkebury Senior Secondary School in Ngcobo, last week.
According to one of the event organisers, Mbeko Mbebe, the aim of this expo was to introduce students in rural areas to unconventional careers, such as robotics and aviation; hence the participation of Think Shift, and Air Traffic and Navigation service.
“We appreciate our partnership with Armscor, South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL), Nelson Mandela Museum, the Department of Education, King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) TVET College, King Hintsa TVET, Walter Sisulu University (WSU), and different professionals who represented different fields in this expo,” said Mbebe.
According to him, the expo is intended to expose learners from rural communities to opportunities that are available beyond Grade 9 and Matric.
He said that exposing learners to different career paths, so that they are not limited to the already over-populated fields of study, is important because the usual careers could lead to unemployment, regardless of the qualifications possessed.
“Our focus is on scarce skills and showing learners one can explore beyond Grade 9 and Matric. Clarkebury is one of the oldest missionary schools, with a rich history, and stalwarts like Nelson Mandela have attended the school.
“It was strategic for the Sakhikamva Development Foundation because there are many rural schools that will benefit from this expo.
“Learners from rural communities miss out on opportunities like these, and Clarkebury was a great opportunity for these learners,” said Mbebe.
He added that this initiative is the annual rural career expo which started in 2023, and they are planning to continue with it every year targeting different rural communities.
“Yes, we want to cover all rural communities in the province, planting the seed where other people/community leaders can partner with us to take this forward. On top of that, our focus is not only on the career expo, but we are also planning to expand and target out-of-school youth and provide them with the necessary skills.
“We are planning to partner with different organisations and the State Information Technology Agency (SITAs) to equip out-of-school youth with survival skills as part of curbing unemployment. These are future plans,” he said.
Mbebe said they have been to various career expos, and most are in urban areas, depriving learners from rural communities of such opportunities.
