ENGINEERING THE PIPELINE
One of the core objectives South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) is harness and foster the growth of Education in the Engineering sector which for sometime has been faced with a debilitating shortage of skills. The future of the Electrical engineering profession rests on the shoulders of the Youth. South African secondary schools have seen alarmingly poor results in Maths and Science, two crucial subjects required in the Engineering discipline.
The SAIEE has set out to increase access to and the understanding of mathematics and science at a higher-grade level among schools from disadvantaged communities that do not have the resources to do so themselves. The SAIEE have done so in the support of the Bergville careers day project and the department of Science and Technology’s Dinaledi schools programme.
The SAIEE supports the Bergville Community Builders (BCB) in their efforts to assist and motivate Grade 10, 11 and 12 learners by sharpening and broadening their dreams and providing greater insight in to Electrical Engineering and the benefits of a tertiary education. The project accommodates the 32 schools in Bergville area and exposes the learners to aspectsof Science and Technology which also takes place during National Science Week. The project also includes an initiative known as “Train-the-Trainer” which helps improve the competence of teachers teaching subjects crucial for engineering at high school level. The career day is concluded with an award ceremony for the learners based on matric results from the previous year.
These projects have played an important role contributing toward a steady increase in the pass rate for learners studying Maths and Science.