Intsebenziswano High School pupil Anelisizwe Msitha has used her talent as an artist to think creatively as an entrepreneur.
The Grade 11 pupil uses the visual arts to express her emotions but it also sparked an idea for her to rope in her classmates and provide a platform where they could share skills and learn to be business-minded through an entrepreneurship club.
The shy and soft-spoken 18-year-old has secured a scholarship to study art in Amsterdam in 2021 through the assistance of Drone World organisation after she completes her matric.
Anelisizwe developed a love of art during her primary school days and has often used it to express her emotions but it has also enabled her to think creatively.
She said she took the decision to get young people involved in art-related activities to keep them busy and away from social ills such as drug abuse. She then took this idea to her school and asked a few of her friends to get involved.
She hoped to re-introduce the love of art in her school and community as a tool to help young people make informed life choices and not to only see it as a hobby or extramural activity.
She said she discovered that many do not understand that art provides a therapeutic platform and helps one to think critically.
Anelisizwe said while a few pupils joined her in her quest and believed in her idea, others thought she was a boring person who had no life. But she said those comments did very little to dampen her unwavering spirit and she forged ahead with her idea.
She believed so much in her idea that she knew no one would stand in her way of turning it into a reality.
She was excited when her teachers and principal rallied behind her. Anelisizwe would attend workshops at DroneWorld organisation on Saturdays to sharpen her skills.
Little did she know that she would receive a scholarship from the organisation.
This, she said, motivated her to do more and as a result she and her classmates started hosting market days at the school to sell some of their paintings.
It was not long before her school principal told them that they should enter a school competition through the Eskom Development Foundation, in partnership with the Education With Enterprise Trust (EWET), last year. And they secured third prize in the competition.
“I want to open my own gallery. I want to be one of the most respected artists in the world. I want to urge my peers not to take art for granted. Let’s spend our time as young people doing something positive in our lives,” she said.
Principal Moipone Sam said she was proud that her pupils were part of various activities in the school as they aim is to unleash their fullpotential.
Ms Sam said they wanted pupils who complete their schooling years at the school to be job-creators rather than job seekers.
She said they wanted to produce pupils that were equipped with critical skills so that they could be self-reliant. The current education system, she argues, does not empower the pupils with skills and makes it difficult for them to find jobs.
But she said her school has taken a different approach and route in terms of teaching and providing the necessary skills into the pupils.
Her aim is to see her pupils succeed in life and plough back to the school and their community.
Ms Sam said such pupils give her confidence that they are putting the school on the map for all the right reasons.
Another pupil Siyakholwa Swaartbooi said he has learnt a lot from the entrepreneurship club.
He said he does woodwork and it blends well with art and hopes that one day he will run his own business together with his classmates.
Teacher Misiwe Matete said she was proud of what these pupils have achieved and they were putting the school on the map.