Africa-Press – Botswana. The Maranyane Bokamoso career fair provides a holistic and multi-faceted pathway that will shape lives of the girls in their journey towards acquiring education.
Jwaneng Mine senior information management manager, Ms Gofaone Molosiwa, said this at a career fair for the first cohort of the Maranyane Bokamoso programme, organised by the mine in collaboration with Dare to Dream recently.
The programme was established last year in an endeavour to address under-representation of women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). A total of 33 girls from Matsha College, Moshupa, Lobatse and Seepapitso secondary schools were enrolled.
Ms Molosiwa said the programme was intended to not only enhance STEM careers but also build communication and interpersonal skills among participants.
She commended all stakeholders, particularly the female engineers, who played various roles throughout the participants’ innovation camp, job shadowing exercise and the ongoing coaching and monitoring. She also acknowledged the role of teachers in ensuring the programme was a success, despite the challenges facing the education system.
“We believe in the right solutions and partnerships, hence standing here in celebration of the teachers and school management who relentlessly persevere through the challenges facing our education system,” she noted
She thus underscored the need to prioritise innovation as a change agent for global competiveness in line with Botswana’s Vision 2036 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aspirations.
For her part, Dare to Dream chief executive officer, Captain Kgomotso Phatsima applauded Jwaneng Mine for giving young girls the opportunity to appreciate the daily operations of the innovation and technology cadres as well as creating interactive platforms for mentoring by the female engineers.
She said the career fair was part of the empowerment process intended to take participants through various processes with tertiary institutions that offer STEM-related courses.
She further revealed that an online platform had been developed to ensure that mentoring continued online as the girls prepared for the examinations and careers.
“At the end of this camp, we are going to open a learning management system, where learners will have an opportunity to be tutored online,” she said.
She urged learners to seize the opportunity to enhance their academic performance and prepare for the future careers they wanted to embark on.
“I must say that the ball is in your court, to who much is given, much is required,” she said.
Matsha College school head, Mr Mphaphi Kuswane appreciated the collaborative effort to close the gender gaps by empowering female learners to explore possible careers in innovation and technology.
“We are proud that you are adding value by identifying women and the girl child who have been left behind in venturing into such careers,” he said.
He said the programme was aligned with the country’s goal of becoming a knowledge based economy, hence participants should use the opportunity wisely.
He also cautioned them to use technology properly for self-growth and empowerment.
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