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Learners from Tsako Thabo High School listen attentively to Agrément South Africa's Nic Arnold |
CSIR Built Environment hosted a series of visits by girl Grade 11 learners during National Women's Month in August 2007 to introduce them to a range of career options in the construction industry.
On three days towards the end of August, the passages and laboratories of CSIR Built Environment and Agrément South Africa rang with the sound of girl-talk and laughter. This unusual occurrence was the result of a series of visits by girl Grade 11 learners from schools in the Tshwane area. The aim of the visits was to introduce learners to a range of career options in the construction industry, focusing particularly on civil engineering. The visits formed part of the Department of Public Works' Women in Construction initiative, planned to coincide with the celebration of National Women's Month.
Learners from Tsako Thabo High School, Bonalesedi High School, Silverton High School and Pretoria High School for Girls learned more about different aspects of the construction industry. They also had the opportunity to interact with a number of CSIR women researchers in discussions about careers in civil engineering.
Learners visited the CSIR's wind tunnel and fire laboratory, and witnessed a compression test, as well as soft and hard-body impact tests.
Officials from the Department of Education, who assisted Agrément South Africa in arranging the visits, and representatives from the Department of Public Works, joined the activities on one day. Welcoming the guests, Joe Odhiambo, manager of Agrément South Africa's Technical Agency, emphasised that South Africa was faced with a wide range of challenges in the built environment, including development of new infrastructure and maintenance of existing infrastructure. "The built environment promotes sustainable social and economic development, hence the need for youth to take up careers in the built environment and contribute towards addressing the current global scarcity of technical skills," Odhiambo said.
The highly successful series of visits were planned and coordinated by Agrément South Africa, an independent centre for the certification of non-standardised construction products. The Technical Agency of Agrément South Africa is managed by the CSIR.
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