10 Apr 2016

Organisations have been urged to help graduates in pursuing their career path by allowing them to do internships, volunteering and doing job shadowing in their companies.

This was said by the executive chairman of Khupe Group of Companies, Mr Abel Khupe at the career fair hosted by Botho University, Francistown campus on Thursday.

The theme for the fair was ,Enhancing graduate employability through industry connections.

Mr Khupe appealed to the corporate sector to give graduates a chance of employment or a platform to acquire experience and exposure because they are fresh from school. He further said many graduates are roaming the streets therefore if given the platform, they can  use their skills to add value to organisations and contribute to the growth of the country.

He added that organisations such as CEDA, LEA, departments of youth, gender affairs and others whose mandate is mainly on economic empowerment especially to young and upcoming businesses have made a contribution which is highly appreciated.

Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture district coordinator, Ms Minkie Bokole urged students and graduates to take education seriously in order to compete better in the corporate industry as there is high unemployment rate which results in competition for the best graduates.

She also encouraged them to use government programmes available, citing National Internship Programme, Government Volunteer Scheme and Tirelo Sechaba and to use their skills and talents to grab opportunities of acquiring the youth grants and the youth development funds to improve their lives.

Bit-Bite managing director, Mr Manuel Ricardo shared his journey of success in doing his IT business which started operating in 2010 and has clients in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa to date. 

Mr Ricardo stated that he started his business with P3 000 that he got from the piece job he was doing at the time and a lot of people rejected him but he did not give up on his business idea.

“It was a rough sail but I believed in myself because I had skill, determination, courage and passion to excel which taught me to never stop learning,” he said.

He encouraged graduates and students to take their education seriously as they will need the skills and knowledge from the classroom to penetrate the corporate market, adding that they should familiarise themselves with technology, use it wisely and benefit from it. Ends