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50% of you think that the South African Government has the potential to make the biggest impact on reducing carbon emissions in South Africa; |
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8% opted for the technology sector; and |
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42% opted for private industry. |
Shuttle Discovery landed for the last time at Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on 9 March 2011. Discovery has completed 39 space voyages (its first being on 30 August 1984), has spent a total of 365 days in space and travelled more than 238 million kilometres during it’s lifetime.
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A role model tells learners about his career path as part of the SAASTA role-modeling project in Port Elizabeth. |
Inspire learners. Leave your mark. Lead them. Watch them blossom. One role model has done just this and passionately continues to do so daily.
Onica Phayane, together with her colleagues in SAASTA’s Education Unit, has been venturing into all areas of our country with the Role-modeling Campaign, on a quest to show learners that they too can grab the opportunity to follow a career in science, engineering and technology (SET).
“The long hours of travelling and being away from home for extended periods are all worthwhile when you have an experience like I recently had,” says Phayane. She bumped into a former student at the East London Airport, who told her that she had inspired him to overcome numerous hardships and follow a career in science. He was on his way back to the University of the Witwatersrand where he is currently in his final year of Mechanical Engineering studies.
“I have a passion for this job and if I can succeed in motivating a few students – especially those who live under tough circumstances – to make something of their lives; if I can plant a seed that will put them on the path to success, it will be such a great reward.”
“During a role-modelling event in Atteridgeville near Pretoria, I met a former student from the days when I was a physical science teacher. He had recently joined the Makombandlela Organisation as a role model. He told me that it was my dedication, my passion for my subject, and my love for the students that inspired him to be somebody in life,” says Phayane proudly. The student is now in is his final year of BSc Civil Engineering studies at the University of Pretoria. “He says that my strictness and guidance at school has paid off as far as he is concerned.”
“The fact that numerous learners I have taught achieved success in their lives makes me proud. I believe one should leave a positive mark behind, like a footprint that cannot be erased, so that others can follow in your footsteps.”
The SAASTA Role-modelling Campaign gives learners an opportunity to interact with role models and mentors in SET careers, and has grown in leaps and bounds. In this year alone, the campaign has taken SAASTA staff to Atteridgeville, Khayelitsha, schools in the rural areas around Port Elizabeth and Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape, as well as Kuruman in the Northern Cape.
Would you like to become involved?
SAASTA is compiling a database of role models who are willing to help out, interact with and inspire learners about careers in SET. If you are a young person in one of these career fields and would like to become involved in this campaign, contact Onica Phayane at SAASTA. Her email is onica@saasta.ac.za or telephone +27 12 392 9300/36.