Engineering Discovery sessions have contributed immensely to the success of the Next Engineers program since the launch of the program, having reached 3 170 Grade 8 learners across Johannesburg between the launch of the program in 2022 and the end of 2023. One of Next Engineers’ major goals is to reach as many learners from underrepresented population groups (gender, racial, socio-economic, etc.), and during the abovementioned years, 58% (~1839) are female. According to our feedback surveys, 98% of the learners expressed an increased awareness of engineering and 94% have reported an interest in potentially pursuing engineering as a career.
In 2024, we are working towards maintaining this trend as we begin our sessions with another potential 1 000 learners. Communications with the schools have started and the sessions are ongoing. The activities planned for 2024 include Penlight Train and Build a Battery. These are sure to excite the learners as some Discovery participants have expressed an interest in participating in activities that involve electricity.
We will surely keep you posted on the developments around the Engineering Discovery. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to find out what is happening with all the programs we are running.
