Thursday, July 4, 2013

Mentoring as a tool to promote gender equality in South Africa


Young girls in South Africa are faced with social and personal problems. Often peer pressure forces them to make bad career choices. Teen pregnancy still remains a concern in South Africa. Education is central to the development of young people as it prepares them for the world of work and for life.

In South Africa we are currently faced with a high rate of students who drop out during their 1st year of study and a large number of students enrolled at Universities do not get to complete their degrees within the given time frame. Social and personal problems faced by young girls hinder their success.

Mentoring is consistently cited as a constructive program for assisting young people in growing up to become successful and happy adults. Girls need positive female role models, woman who have overcome obstacles to become successful. They need woman whom they can look up to and possibly change or challenge their perceptions when it comes to education.

A woman’s character is seen or known through her conversations. The type of conversations we engage in determine our attitude. Attitude is what determines our destiny. Attitude is the most important asset that we possess as human beings. With the right attitude you can teach a person anything and they will be able to learn.

Girls need to be encouraged to take up careers in field that were previously perceived as male industries or jobs such Science, Technology and Engineering in order to promote gender equality. It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child hence I believe that South African woman should strive to excel in all fields in order to better set an example for our young girls.

We cannot expect the government to stop or reduce teenage pregnancy and all other issues faced by young people. We should be the change we want to see in the world and grab each opportunity available to influence the lives of young woman in South Africa.

 

 

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