UCT career guidance with a twist – Qaphela! WorkSafe and StayHealthy message for young workers

Thirty-seven Life Sciences learners from Silikamva High School in Imizamo Yethu were part of the first group of Grade 10-12 learners hosted at UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences campus on the 29th April 2023 by Dr Itumeleng Ntatamala (School of Public Health), Dr Kentse Mpolokeng and Ms Jeshika Luckrajh (Department of Human Biology) as part of the ‘Science-Is-Fun’ high school learner outreach programme. This initiative aims to provide practical anatomy demonstration sessions to help improve the learning of key Grade 10-12 life sciences and human biology concepts in the curriculum and provide tailored career guidance as the learners begin contemplating future careers and workplaces to enter. A session on ‘what every learner needs to know’ regarding the UCT application process was delivered by Ms Nambita Ntshongwana, Student Recruitment Officer at UCT, followed by motivational talks by undergraduate health sciences students of rural background studying the faculty and staff.

The career guidance and workplace preparedness session was organized by Dr Itumeleng Ntatamala, Occupational Medicine Specialist and Senior Lecturer in the UCT Occupational Medicine Division. The session was provided under the auspices of the Qaphela! WorkSafe and Stay Healthy Initiative, which focuses on occupational health and safety training for young workers and teens at high schools, technical and vocational colleges, and workplaces. Qaphela! is an isi-Xhosa and isi-Zulu term for ‘be careful, be safe, and be watchful!’. The initiative aims to train young workers and teens on the identification of common hazards and risks in the workplace, prevention of occupational injuries and diseases and ‘staying healthy’, characteristics of ‘decent work/good job’, and importantly the rights of young workers as contained in South Africa’s occupational health and safety legislation. The learners further discussed where to get help should health and safety problems arise in the workplace.

The career and workplace preparedness session received positive feedback from the learners, with some reflecting that “I learned a lot that I did not know and that got me thinking about the future and mainly what I want to do after school” and that “it was exciting! Your lecturers and students were amazing – I could not stop admiring that…I felt welcome at UCT and would love to come back if given a chance”.