Axium Education's Pathways Programme supports our Senior Schools learners by exposing them to different career options and assisting them with tertiary and bursary application processes.
Our Pathways programme held its annual Career Exhibition in Willowvale, Amajingqi, in March 2022. We, therefore, had YouTube diary inserts on the presence of the career exhibition in our rural settings. The career exhibition was put in place as a strategy to create access, provision of resources, options, knowledge, and exposure so that our Dumalisile Comprehensive High School learners and any other learners from surrounding rural schools can make informed decisions regarding their career paths.
These career exhibitions have proven to be an important feature of our Pathways programme given that they are hosted in the learners' immediate rural spaces. These give our learners a fair chance of selecting a career path that is out of their ordinary options, for example, becoming a teacher - the expos help broaden their perspectives and knowledge base.
As much as the expos have proven to be in high demand, there are unavoidable challenges with hosting a careers event in a rural area. These include transport issues, gravel roads, weather conditions, long distances between city centres and the location of the event, and attendance due to the distance between the actual schools we are working with.
For such reasons, we need to start having conversations on how we can increase awareness and the importance of creating career exhibitions relevant to our rural environments and learners attending rural schools.
Please watch our YouTube video as we reflect back on our careers exhibitions.
To the 88 learners who attended the career expo, the 15 exhibitors who showcased their specialities, Walter Sisulu University (Mthatha and Butterworth campus), King Hintsa TVET College, South African Police Services Willowvale and specifically the Forensics Unit, Simama: Center for Career and Professional Development / NSFAS, Eastern Cape Department of Education, catering services and the Axium staff, thank you so much for your support in making the event a success.