The North West MEC of Finance Motlalepule Rosho hosted a group of learners from Grade 9 to Grade 11 at the Youth Career Guidance Summit in Klerksdorp on Thursday.
Thirty-one schools from the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District attended the summit. According to Rosho, the government wants to encourage young people to participate in the financial sector and to expose them to the value chain they can explore within the different financial sectors.
“These are the areas that we think we need to strengthen because for us to promote good governance, we need the skills within the financial sector to build a strong government,” she said
“It’s 47 years down the line, we are talking about the 1976 cohorts that have laid a foundation within the education platform. And I think to appreciate the work that they have done, we thought that we must run a career exhibition whereby the department itself comes and talks about the programmes that we have, that actually young people can start to explore in planning their future as future leaders,” she said.
In welcoming the initiative the learners asked the government to avail more platforms where they can be exposed to career choices and to take those initiatives to the rural areas as well.
Lesego Tshweu from Leruntse Secondary School: “Some of us come from poor communities, the information we are getting today is important”.
Speaking through an interpreter, Sisipho Danisa from the North West Secondary School for the Deaf, said the government must cater to the deaf community by ensuring that they receive quality education..
“When learners complete matric they stay at home, like learners who are deaf like me. They stay at home unemployed because even at schools there are no sign language interpreters and we cannot study properly,” she said.
Stakeholders in the fields of commerce and finance were at the exhibition and showcased different opportunities in the different sectors. Dimpho Kethupile from Mahikeng Digital Information Hub said the main reason for the exhibition was to expose the young minds to different careers in line with the 4IR.
Unathi Nkosiyane from Fasset, a financial and accounting SETA, said their mission is skilling children from rural and disadvantaged communities and giving them academic support when needed.
