“South Africa needs to quadruple the number of engineering graduates per year,” says the Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor.
She was speaking at the official opening of the UNESCO Africa Engineering Week at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Monday 1 September. The opening ceremony was attended by over 200 children from schools in Soweto, who also visited the engineering professions exhibition.
Minister Pandor encouraged learners to make a decision to study mathematics and science, and to work hard at them.
“We have an unfortunate legacy inherited from the former education system of our country, which discouraged black learners from taking mathematics and science for matric. I am calling on you all to reverse this legacy by taking these subjects in order to change the situation,” she says.
One of the learners who attended the event was Bayanda Madi, in Grade 9 at Ncube High School in Mofolo North, Soweto. The Grade 9 pupil found the UNESCO African Exhibition very informative.
“By studying maths and science, young people will be able to help South Africa develop,” he states.
“I have learned that engineering makes life easy; engineers build bridges and roads to improve movement and create a healthy environment in communities to reduce overcrowding which often brings diseases like TB for example.”
Minister Pandor laments the fact that the media does not give science and maths the visibility they warrant.
“We need to make science, maths and technology-related subjects more visible to the youth, in order to inspire more children and build the number of engineers entering the profession,” she says.
“Our desperate need is for you, as the future of this country, to take the decision from Grade10 right through to Grade12, to study maths and science at school, and to persevere with these subjects, right up to university. If you stick with this decision, in 20 years’ time our country will be transformed.”
17-year-old Karabo Kgatle, a Grade11 pupil who is taking maths and science at Emshukantambo Secondary School in Pimville, Soweto, was also present. Karabo aspires to study chemical engineering or biochemistry at university.
“After listening to Minister Pandor I am motivated to work harder and my interest in engineering has been increased. Here at the exhibition I am learning things I did not know before and, by the time I go home this afternoon, I will have acquired valuable information about engineering,” she says.
The UNESCO Africa Engineering Week is open to all learners from 09:00 to 14:00 daily, at the Perskor Building on the UJ Doornfontein Campus.