Africa-Press – Botswana. Leaners have been encouraged to leverage their unique talents and skills into income generating projects to make a decent living. Giving a motivational speech during the Ngamiland Careers Expo at The Life Centre on May 30, Guidance and Counselling officer from the regional education office in Maun, Ms Mercy Peloewetse said employment opportunities were limited and far less than the graduates turned out from institutions.
She therefore, encouraged learners to study hard and acquire skills that would enable them to be self-employed instead of looking for non-existing jobs after school. Organised by Botoka Foundation under the theme: Pathways to Success: Learn, Connect, Thrive, the expo targeted Form 3s and Form 5s from schools in Maun and its primary objective was to expose them to different career paths in a bid to lay foundation for their future. However, Ms Peloewetse informed them that they should start identifying their skills and interest and explore various projects that aligned with their capabilities.
“If you have talent to sustain yourself, go for it. You May have skills for baking, weaving, bead making and guiding among others and I encourage you do them,” she added.
Learners were also urged to take initiatives such as career expos seriously as it aimed to expose them to a broad spectrum of professions they might not encounter in their everyday lives. Another initiative Ms Peloewetse also highlighted, was the learner profiling in schools saying it helped identify strengths, weaknesses and learning preference, recognising the learners’ abilities, interests and goals. Through the initiative, she acknowledged that the government was making it easier to choose appropriate career paths.
“During our time, we had three career paths being a teacher, a nurse and an agricultural demonstrator, but some of us found new passions along the way. I was a Maths and Science teacher and switched to become a professional guidance and counselling expert,” she said.
Furthermore, she told learners that career development was a journey, hence they should start now to shape and map their pathways noting that when they start their career, they should understand that the journey was not easy but worth pursuing. Ms Peloewetse also implored them to allow to be guided, saying they should go for career counselling and interact with experts so that they could make informed career choices and easily adapt to the environment.
Community representative, Mr Tiego Mpho said the expo gave them the platform to think outside the box and see what was available to exploit and magnify their talents. He encouraged attendees to take ownership of their future and embrace opportunities before them.
The founder of Botoka Foundation, Ms Nthati Phoi said through the expo, she wanted to help learners to think beyond tourism and explore their passions, understand career opportunities and make informed decisions about their future. Some youths, she said, lacked interest in their future careers hence the expo attracted different stakeholders to assist and encourage learners to take up opportunities for their future paths. She was hopeful that through the expo, they would be able make the right choices when choosing subjects at schools.
The foundation is a non-governmental organisation established in 2023 to empower youth particularly in Ngamiland region. Ms Phoi mentioned that the foundation aimed to support the educational programmes saying most of the time they dealt with out- of school youth.
It also offers programmes targeting young people who have failed their Junior Certificate and those who have completed Cambridge, equipping them with leadership and life skills and also enhancing their employability.
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