The Nelson Mandela Metro has launched its automotive experiential career development programme in a bid to increase the number of black engineers available to the area’s burgeoning automotive industry.

As a component of the metro’s 20/20 Citywide Economic Development Strategy, the AECDP is expected to channel qualified black engineers into the automotive sector.

The programme involves the mentoring and guidance of 30 Grade 12 pupils and will include a two-week winter school at the Summerstrand North Campus of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

The Automotive Industry Development Centre, which designed and structured the programme, aims to ensure that participants make a successful transition from school to university and eventually enter the motor industry.

Initially 50 participants from disadvantaged schools in the metro, who showed promise with mathematics and science, attended a nine-week mathematics development programme hosted by the NMMU maths department. The top 30 will continue with the main programme.

The goal of the mathematics development programme was to improve their insight, understanding and problem-solving skills, after which they will be evaluated on their progress and performance.

This programme specifically aims to uplift learners and assist them to make an informed career choice by providing them with training and exposure to various engineering disciplines, with specific emphasis on the automotive industry.

AIDC skills development and training manager Estelle Gathercole said the skills required of employees in the industry had become progressively more sophisticated.

“In the face of the demand for highly skilled workers it is socially and economically imperative that previously disadvantaged individuals not only join the mainstream economy but contribute to it and their prospective employers”, she said.

Metro automotive specialist Msokoli Ntombana said the interaction of pupils with the automotive industry was one of the critical success factors of the programme.

“Industry participation and the exposure of learners to it will ensure that the fundamentals of engineering and technology are instilled with the learners from an early point.

Gathercole said many of the participants in the programme would also qualify for financial assistance, to ensure their successful entry into industry.