The Ehlanzeni District Municipality has teamed up with the Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) in a partnership that seeks to equip emerging researchers to be the best in their field.
This initiative and partnership, according to the district municipality’s manager, Dr Nontobeko Mahlalela, will also go beyond just equipping young and emerging researchers, but also help experienced adults or workers to professionalise their careers so they may continue to earn a living even after retirement.
Mahlalela told the newspaper that the genesis of this initiative followed some shocking revelations that many public servants retire with much sought-after skills and experience, and tend to be stuck at home without anything to do, while emerging researchers often lack knowledge and guidance to be the best in their field.
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“The idea behind this exercise is to professionalise people’s careers and help equip emerging researchers with the necessary skills to be the best. We have realised that in both the public and private sectors, when people retire at 60, they sit at home with nothing to do, because they never professionalised their careers in a manner that would enable them to continue to earn a living. This includes opening official registered companies based on their careers. In many cases you find that these people have vast hands-on experience, which they could be sharing and imparting to the youth or companies and governmental departments seeking such services,” said Mahlalela.
She made an example of police officials, saying that after retirement, they could easily become private investigators and outsource their skills and services to both government and the general public who may need them.
“Another example is teachers. When teachers retire, they also could help run private lessons, especially in what we call the scarce skills subjects, such as mathematics and science. But to achieve this, people need to learn how to professionalise their careers so they can still earn a living, while at the same time sharing their knowledge where they can, even after official retirement,” added Mahlalela.
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She said together with the two universities, they will conduct a two-day workshop for emerging researchers and career-driven individuals or workers at the UMP, earmarked for September 10 to 12.
“The workshop is basically about teaching our people to professionalise their careers. This will help teach people how to add more years onto their working life, but in a professional way and on their terms. This in short means that people can work as consultants after retirement, and still earn a decent living,” said Mahlalela.
She said the workshop is open to everyone, including those currently serving and retired public servants, as well as those working in the private sector.
