SAEON Fynbos Node empowers learners to make informed career choices

During the months of September and October, SAEON Fynbos Node’s Education Officer, Hadley Lyners, gave career education to grade 9 learners at Excelsior, Kasselsvlei and Silversands high schools. 

It is this time of year that grade 9 learners have to make their learning area choices. By providing learners with information about careers in environmental science, they will hopefully be able to make informed choices about pursuing science-related careers.

The first step is for them to choose learning areas that will enable them to gain entry into science-related faculties at universities. In order to give the learners further insights into their choice of learning areas, Lyners showed them a DVD illustrating various career options related to environmental science and conservation.

He also showed learners a short media clip — “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard — which gives some insights into the issues around materials economy from extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Leonard shows that materials economy is a system in crisis. Overall she manages to show how the materials economy is a linear system operating in a finite world which is affected by various cultures, economies, politics, societies and various environments. She provides some useful considerations that each and everyone of us should have for our planet and its people. 

SAEON hopes that by exposing the issues out there, learners will encouraged to make informed choices for themselves, their fellows and their societies. Collectively we can make a difference!