Gender inequalities and historical disadvantage in South Africa continue to affect the uptake by girls of critical and scarce careers that are required for ongoing growth of the country. Techno Girls is a national programme of the Department of Basic Education, in partnership with UNICEF, designed to address this challenge.

Girls in Grade 10, 11 and 12 are placed in companies for job shadowing during the three main school holidays of the year. The emphasis is on identifying careers where women are under-represented with a specific bias toward Mathematics, Science and Technology. The job shadowing experience is supplemented with career guidance to motivate girls to identify career opportunities and to prioritise their studies in Mathematics, Science and Technology.

The Techno Girls programme benefits its job shadowing partner companies by supporting achievement of BEEEE scorecard compliance in the categories of employment and gender equity, skills development and socio-economic development. For the girls, the primary benefit is the opportunity to become more employable with the ability to attract a higher salary.

Africa!Ignite is rolling out the Techno Girls programme in KwaZulu-Natal on behalf of Uweso Consulting, who are responsible for implementing the programme in Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

For more information and to get involved, please contact Abigail Samuel on 031 303 5482.