In partnership with UNICEF; Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities; the Department of Basic Education and the State Information Technology Agency, Techno Girl is giving young girls across South African high schools a head start to Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The aim of this programme is to give girls from Grade 9 to Grade 11 a chance to take part in job shadowing, mentorship and skills development in the public and private sectors. The learners usually come from disadvantaged communities.
“The job shadowing programme provides girls with first-hand, insider information into what their career of interest involves. It motivates girls to develop a personal action plan to study further to secure a job of interest,” said Wycliffe Otieno, the Chief of Education at UNICEF South Africa.
Siphokazi Dayimane from the Cape Flats was part of the Techno Girl programme in Grade 10 and has since gone on to make a success of herself. She started job shadowing at PetroSA in Mossel Bay, and then won a bursary to study a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Cape Town.
“Being part of the Techno Girl programme was a blessing for me; it gave me hope where the future was dark. Not only did I receive a bursary, but I was more informed on career choices and what I wanted to study. The programme groomed me, and it was easy for me to follow my dreams and goals because I have seen role models in the workplace during my job shadowing days,” said Dayimane.
After graduating, Dayimane was selected to be part of the PetroSA Graduate in Training Programme in 2020. Her dream is to inspire more young girls to become scientists and offer job shadowing opportunities to them when I work at PetroSA. “I’m looking forward to showing them that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and trust the people who believe in you. I’m proof that anyone can make it!,”she added.The 23 year old is also part of the 100-UP project, a programme that helps school learners from disadvantaged backgrounds to get into university.
