
Jammy Francis (Alexander Road High School), Sinovuyo Mafu (Newton Tech High School) and Lubablo France (Gelvandale High School) testing the members of their warren truss bridge. Picture: SANRAL
“Our ‘education to employment’ programme offers students a practical understanding of the theory through learnerships,” said Laurene Booth-Jones, the programme’s co-ordinator.
Programmes begin at Grade 11 and 12 levels. Learners can enrol in the third phase onward once they are at university. Taking part in the competition “allowed us to think out of the box,” Sinethemba Fesi, a matric pupil said. The bridges were judged according to aesthetics and the weight the bridge was able to withhold before it collapsed. The aim of the competition was to teach the learners about the basic principles of infrastructure engineering. Go for Gold, a version of the programme hosted in Cape Town, afforded one of the programme’s graduates a bursary from SANRAL. “SANRAL supports youth development and we understand the need for it,” said Sean Strydom, SANRAL Southern Region Construction Materials, Project Manager.