Company Announcement - In the absence of career guidance at South African schools, initiatives such as the 2015 Youth in Construction Expo in Johannesburg have become absolutely vital to promote the image of the building and civil engineering industries, says Dr Deon Landmann, Education, Training and Transformation Manager of Master Builders Association North.

The 2015 Youth in Construction, held at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown, Johannesburg, was a major success and exposed hundreds of secondary school children to the wide variety of career opportunities in construction. MBA North has played a major role in the Youth in Construction initiative, in collaboration with the SA Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors , the SA Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), the Consulting Engineers South Africa, and FET Colleges. The annual expositions are held in support of the Department of Public Works’ National Construction Week. “MBA North has been a major driving force behind the Youth in Construction Expo since it was started in earnest six years ago. More than 40 000 learners from diverse backgrounds have been exposed to career opportunities in the construction industry not only in Johannesburg, but also at similar exhibitions in Cape Town, Durban and Kimberley.

With the building sector experiencing serious skills shortages, MBA North feels industry promotional events such as  Youth in Construction are now vital to help recruit the future workforce - and leaders - of the industry. Because career planning is no longer provided at schools, it is now up to the industry – and it has become an expensive exercise – to attract the youth to the construction industry,” Dr Landmann stated.

He said over 3 500 learners from 32 schools, and FET colleges had attended the 2015 event.  Representatives from various construction industry companies and training institutions manned several exhibition stands to disseminate career opportunities – from engineer to tradespersons - to the enthusiastic schoolboys and schoolgirls who were brought to the expo by special bus transport. Talks and hands-on activities that enabled learners to see, touch, feel and appreciate the broad spectrum of exciting possibilities offered within the industry were staged for Grade 8 to 12 learners, their teachers, and FET college students.