CESA unearthing future leaders

“Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education possible

so that they can represent us well in future as future leaders. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” proclaimed the late Former President Nelson Mandela.

In a quest to promote engineering as a career of choice, it is against this background that Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) and its Young Professionals Forum (YPF) are hosting their Job Shadow Initiative. In addition, CESA’s YPF is also hosting its Annual Imbizo as well as a series of ‘School Talks’ aimed at promoting Engineering as a career of choice within schools.

The goal of the Job Shadowing Initiative is to expose and entice school learners into the engineering field, but more specifically to the specialised field of Consulting Engineering as a career of choice.

The Job Shadowing Initiative takes the form of a poster competition, with the top three submissions depicting the learner’s experience, receiving recognition at the CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards being held on the 15^th August 2018. Last year UWP Consulting won the competition with Infraconsult and Bigen Africa, runners-up.

The CESA Job Shadow Initiative is timed to coincide with Youth Day, celebrated on the 16^th June, in commemoration of the Youth that participated in the Soweto Uprising in 1976.

CESA YPF therefore encourages all member firms to participate in the Job Shadow initiative and poster competition which is currently underway and runs till the 31^st of July. The Job Shadow initiative allows student to experience ‘a Day in the Life of a Consulting Engineer’ and hopefully will allow students to make an informed decision when choosing a career path after high school,” declares CESA’s YPF Chairperson Amanda Masondo-Mkhize.

The YPF urges CESA member firms and the Public Sector to support the Annual Young Professionals Sustainability Imbizo (#YPImbizo), which takes place on the 14^th and15^th of August 2018, by encouraging young professionals within their companies to submit abstracts and also to sponsor the attendance of their young professionals.

The CESA Job Shadow Initiative has been expanded to include ‘School Talks’ by participants not involved in the main Job Shadow Programme. ‘School Talks’ have become a necessity since the majority of learners continue to struggle with Mathematics during the transition from grades three to four, grades seven to eight and end up not choosing Mathematics in grade ten. Statistics show that from those who choose core mathematics in grade ten only one in five achieves a pass of more than 50% in Mathematics and Science in the matric final exam.

An ‘engineering intervention’ is necessary to stop and reverse the ‘Mathematics meltdown’ at schools by conducting motivational talks during the Job Shadowing Months.

Like the Job Shadow Initiative, the presenters of the ‘School Talks’ give learners a copy of the talk to share with their peers and their parents. This small effort may be akin to trying to save starfish that get washed ashore. Too many to save and too few who care! CESA though, is up to the challenge!

More information from Dennis Ndaba

Tel: 011 463 2022 or 078 532 3100                                                             

dennis@cesa.co.za