Brighter future for thousands of young pupils

Workplace Staff

The Nedbank My Future, My Career Programme for 2012 is drawing to a close and it will have made a lasting impact in assisting thousands of underprivileged Grade 9 to 12 pupils to prepare themselves for their future careers.

It is expecting that about 42 000 pupils will up to now have attended screenings of the 14 career modules at Ster-Kinekor theatres across the country. The 14 episodes focus on one career choice each and they include accounting, law, entrepreneurship, mining and engineering, education, health, IT, construction and travel and tourism.

It is expected that the total will have reached 48 000 at the end of the programme – an improvement of approximately 30 percent on the 37 000 pupils reached in 2011.

“We are pleased with the growth and overall success of this year’s programme, which follows two excellent years,” says Kone Gugushe, divisional executive: corporate social responsibility at Nedbank.

“The guidance programme has established itself as a groundbreaking source of information for learners, particularly those who don’t have access to career guidance resources.”

There is a massive need to provide young people with valuable insights into the possible careers they could follow, Gugushe believes.

“As part of our commitment to creating a knowledge-based economy, we continue to invest heavily in programmes that improve the career prospects of learners, and My Future My Career is one of those programmes.”

Every student leaves each session with supporting material for future reference.

Schools and pupils who participated in previous programmes have been thrilled with the quality and amount of information they’ve received from this initiative.

Vukani Majola, a pupil from Embisweni High School in Umlazi, said: “I’d love to take this opportunity to thank Nedbank and the people who were involved in this concept. I learnt a lot from you and I enjoyed myself.”

In this year’s screenings the highest number of pupils attending a single session occurred on March 18, for the banking and finance episode.

This augurs well, as the financial services industry is one of many in the country that are affected by the chronic shortage of skills.

Martin Sweet, managing director for Primestars Marketing who introduced the My Future, My Career concept, believes that this project will continue to play a significant role in addressing skills-based challenges in SA.

Equally pleased with the success of the programme was the chief executive of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Steven Ngubeni.

“Collaboration is vital to the success of efforts aimed at addressing challenges that face young people in the country. As a partner in this project we would like to see this and similar initiatives expand even further, with the aim of rapidly and effectively addressing the challenge of skills development,” he said.

Other partners in the programme include PPC Cement, Gauteng City Region Academy, Quest, the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants and JD Group.

“It is through initiatives like My Future, My Career that our future leaders, artists and engineers are inspired and created,” said Francie Shonhiwa, corporate social investment manager at PPC.

“We keep close ties with the schools and use this opportunity to engage with the learners about the PPC bursary programme.”

Richard Chauke, director: tax, transformation, risk, internal audit and compliance at the JD Group echoes those sentiments.

“We realise the challenges and the effects of unemployment in SA. It is with this in mind that we have partnered with the My Future, My Career initiative. We hope that through this channel, learners become aware of employment opportunities which exist within the various sectors of the economy and through this, are able to secure a brighter future.”

“Initiatives such as My Future, My Career play a vital role in effecting change through positive intervention with our youth,” says Vuyani Mpofu, Acting CEO of the Gauteng City Region Academy.

l The last screening of My Future, My Career will take place on Sunday.