Take a Girl to Work Day is an initiative driven by Cell C to encourage young girls in grades 10 – 12 to visit workplaces, in order to be exposed to various mainstream industry, and be able to make informed career choices in the future. This enhances future gender equality at the workplace.
Sibongumusa High School in Odlameni (KwaSwayimane), located in the vicinity of District Road 457 where Naidu Consulting is currently supervising the road upgrade from gravel road to blacktop, nominated two female learners, who are top achievers in mathematics and physical science, and with an interest in civil engineering to participate in this initiative.
After a presentation about the academic requirements to study civil engineering in South Africa as well as the various fields within the industry, the candidates visited the Geosure laboratory where site technicians shared aspects of their role and involvement in testing the quality of materials. Siyabonga, a surveyor from Nxele Surveyors, also explained and demonstrated how the Total Station (surveying instrument) worked and how it related to the construction of the road.
The learners were then inducted by the main contractor, DDT Civils (Pty) Ltd/ Morgado Plant Hire cc, and taught about the importance of health and safety on site. The girls were then taken to the site to experience the supervision of work, whereby the laboratory technician demonstrated how to use a nuclear density gauge, and provided the students an opportunity to test the densities of some of the layers on the site.
The young learners finished the day, motivated and eager about the industry, and looked forward to applying and studying civil engineering in the future.
