Impacting young minds

Tongaat Hulett headed for Hambanathi Township, near Tongaat this week, to provide pupils with invaluable career counselling and support.

More than 600 Nkosibomvu Secondary pupils were given career decision-making tools during the week. The project is a partnership between Tongaat Hulett, the Durban University of Technology and the Dube TradePort, aimed at exposing pupils to career options within the agricultural and agri-processing, logistics and hospitality sectors while helping them to make informed career choices.

Tongaat Hulett’s socio-economic development manager Nkonzo Mhlongo said choosing a career can be a daunting process.

“Thousands of learners experience indecision when plotting their careers, which can be quite bewildering.  In the absence of proper guidance, young people are often more prone to making hasty and inappropriate decisions that can be detrimental to themselves and their prospective employers.”

Tongaat Hulett offered bursaries to Nkosibomvu’s high performing pupils wanting to pursue a career in the engineering sciences.

Deputy principal Regina Khoza, also a former pupil and a bursary beneficiary said she was privileged to get a boost from Tongaat Hulett.

“It was at a crucial time in my academic career when options to further my studies were limited. While I desired to be a professional and was ambitiously inclined, the monthly earnings of my mother could only stretch so far. I was reminded at the Career Day of Tongaat Hulett’s generosity and how the bursary had changed my life for the better.”

Tongaat Hulett’s association with Nkosibomvu Secondary School dates back almost four decades when the company donated a sizeable portion of land towards the construction of the school, specifically intended to benefit the children of Hambanathi.