Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has officially launched the John Orr Engineering School of Specialisation in Milpark, Johannesburg.
John Orr’s pupils looked smart in their green and red uniform, ushering in the guests into the school’s hall and showcasing their talents through song, poetry, and gumboot dance.
The learners then showed off their work which they have been doing over the last few months, including woodwork, electrical services, and engineering.
A group of them built an electric car within two months and said the journey was scary yet exciting. But they were thrilled that they completed the project in time.
“We named our car Voltage. Building it was time-consuming but worth it, we had to manage our time properly as we had to deal with our matric June exams,” said 18-year-old matric learner Bantu Rasmeni.
The Gauteng department of education teamed up with Sasol to make sure that processes go smoothly. “What impresses me with John Orr is that your creativity went beyond my imagination, your commitment reminded me of Banyana Banyana [lifting the Women’s African Cup of Nations trophy in Morocco over a week ago],” said Lesufi.
He said seeing especially young girls building a car from scratch is a call for young minds to be hired because they show great potential.
“We want to let go of a country that believes in depending on other countries when it does this on its own. We want to fight unemployment,” said Lesufi.
He challenged other companies to join the partnership and said the children have showed that they are ready to solve the country’s problems.
“Eskom, invest in the skills of young people, partner with us and they will solve your problems in the future.”
Ward 16 councillor Sihle Vuse said the ideas without action are worthless, noting that he has been touched by the work that the pupils have done.
“There is no logic that we will be importing skills when we have our own skilled people. Institutions of higher learning need to stop producing job seekers, but start producing people who will create jobs,” said Vuse.
Sasol executive vice-president: human resources and corporate affairs, Charlotte Mokoena, said the chemicals company’s goal is to support national development plans and to produce 30 000 artisans by 2030.
“It is the hard work, management of the school and partnership with the district that has made the launch of the engineering school a success,” said Mokoena.
Mokoena added that Sasol is willing to partner with the department to make a contribution to the future of the pupils.
[WATCH] Katlego Louw, a member of the John Orr Engineering Mechanical Company and learner at John Orr Engineering School of Specialisation, explain further details of the ‘Voltage’ solar driver cart @Lesufi #GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/vIh5x7K4Ll
— Gauteng Department of Education (@EducationGP1) August 18, 2022
Just last week, the department and Honeywell launched FutureLab at St Barbabas School of Specialisation in the West Rand. The school specialises in robotics and coding.
Robotics and coding education centre launched at St Barnabas
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