Pupils from several Khayelitsha schools were encouraged to think about becoming job creators, instead of job seekers, during a career exhibition last week.
The event at the Site B Community Hall was organised by Khayelitsha’s libraries and drew in various professionals and representatives from several municipal and provincial departments among others.
Guest speaker Dr Nokuthula Mbanyana-Mhleko, a curator of entomology at Iziko Museums, said it could be hard trying to study further at tertiary level, but that did not mean one should give up.
She encouraged the pupils, saying she saw scientists, doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers and librarians in them.
“My parents passed away when I was 13 years old. But I had people who supported me until I finished my matric. After passing it with good symbols, I had to sit at home because I could not afford tertiary education. But lucky enough one of our neighbours who saw my potential sent me to the university.
“Even after university, it wasn’t easy to get employment. I had to come to Cape Town and hustle even working as a teller in one of the supermarkets. That is life. But I never gave up with my dream of becoming a scientist. Here I am today.”
Don’t be discouraged by life’s obstacles, she told the pupils. “What is important is to prioritise education, have discipline and follow your career paths.“
Vuyo Njambathwa-Rani, the senior librarian at Site B library, said libraries should serve the community and help young people achieve their goals in life.
“We want to equip local pupils with skills and knowledge to be able to choose their right careers. There are scarce skills that libraries need to bring forward to them.
“As libraries we have that responsibility of equipping our communities. We need to fight poverty and unemployment in communities. We don’t want these young learners to just go to school and further their studies, thinking they will look for jobs afterwards, but to be job creators in all the industrial sectors.”
