Katlehong the Valve and Actuator Manufacturers Cluster of South Africa have officially launched the Discover your Career in Valves pilot project in association with D Three - Discover Develop and Deploy Services (Pty) Ltd. The Discover your Career in Valves initiative is the first project from the transformation-working group of the cluster and has been tailored to address critical skills shortages within the sector. The aim of the initiative is to take industry to high school learners and expose the type of career opportunities and the potential career path, from training as an artisan through to potentially, a business owner.  

“The initiatives aims to encourage learners to stay in school, to do core math’s, to consider a career as either an artisan or engineer, both of which have different disciplines. Ultimately we want to start attracting our next generation work force and the countries future industrialists.” says Gregory Walker VAMCOSA Champion. The school identified for the launch, Fumana Secondary School in Katlehong, was selected based on its proximity to VAMCOSA members, the fact that the school offers technical training with workshops as well as the number of students passing core math’s. Overall the school has more than 2400 learners’ of which just over 1000 students fit the requirements as set by VAMCOSA.

The days event was structured into two sessions in order to accommodate 1000 learners, and was well attended by industry, including guest speakers from VAMCOSA members, Maths in Practice by Roelf Frauendorf of Premier Valves, Thabo Motholo, Fitter & Turner at AZ-Armaturen South Africa, Chris Nethononda, Mechanical Engineer, PSV Mitech (Pty) Ltd. The foundry sector plays a pivotal role in the valve value chain, John Davies from South Africa Institute of Foundrymen provided the learners with insight into the foundry sector highlighting potential careers. The learners enjoyed engaging with industry after the formal presentations and those interested registered with VAMCOSA via the D Three database.  Of the 1 000 learners, 448 registered a career interest, of which 248 learners have expressed a direct interest in following a career that would benefit VAMCOSA members.
The next step is to establish framework to further mentor the learners and guide them into the industry.