Online Reporter
Obey Musiwa and Takunda Gambiza
Student Connect Trust (SCOT) convened a career guidance workshop in Harare on Saturday, drawing diverse partners who underscored the urgency of equipping young learners with practical pathways and exposure beyond the classroom.
The initiative, themed “Careers do not happen by chance, they are guided, nurtured and built,” sought to assist students to grasp the transition from secondary to higher education.
The workshop emphasised bridging gaps in professional training, broadening horizons for vulnerable children and strengthening mentorship in digital and leadership skills.
In an interview, the trust’s programmes manager, Mr Roosevelt Kabudura, said the workshop helped students to make informed decisions about their next steps to higher learning.
“Careers do not happen by chance; they are guided, nurtured and built as we celebrate 20 years of career pathways,” he said.
“The initiative is meant to give clarity to students navigating the transition from secondary school to higher education.”
Mr Kabudura said SCOT also introduced an experience camp as a flagship programme designed to address challenges such as peer pressure, substance abuse, and low self-esteem among young people.
“The camp’s approach is guided by four pillars that we call IGTRA, which stands for Ignite, Realise, Transform, Align.
“The camp provides a structured and experiential environment where young people can grow personally, socially, and spiritually.”
A representative of one of the partners, Chartered Accountants Academy Registrar, Ms Brenda Zimbowora, said that CAA’s collaboration with SCOT is about creating accessible pathways into the accounting profession for O-level and A-level candidates.
“We are excited as the Chartered Accountants Academy to partner, support and collaborate in this important topic of career guidance,” she said.
“Someone with just five O-levels, including maths and english, someone with two A-levels from commercials, they can come and start at what we call an accounting technician.”
She also emphasised the need for placements and soft skills training to complement academic preparation.
“It means we are producing someone who is not just theoretical, but they also have the competencies that are required in the work environment,” she said.
“We want to come up with soft skills programmes, we train them how to communicate professionally, how to express themselves, how to carry themselves within the work environment.”
Centre for Total Transformation Social Welfare Officer, Leophancy Marope, said their partnership with SCOT was driven by the need to expose vulnerable children to opportunities they rarely encounter.
“Most of our children are not exposed. They really do not know what they want to do when they grow up,” he said.
“So we came with eight children from those vulnerable backgrounds and they are so excited.”
She said that the workshop offered a rare chance for children to see beyond their immediate environment.
“Some of them have never been in the Harare CBD, this was an opportunity for them at least to just get to know what is going on outside of Snake Park.
PodGuide founder, Genius Chipfupa, said the mentorship programme aligns with SCOT’s mission by offering digital and leadership skills to thousands of students.
“We introduced the PodGuide, which is a mentorship platform, from last year up to now, we have managed to mentor over 3 000 students.”
He emphasised the importance of guiding students to choose suitable pathways and expanding mentorship beyond medicine.
“Parents can be telling you that we do not have a doctor, then people get pressured and they choose the wrong pathways,” he said.
“We can also extend other neutral topics like personal development, coding, digital skills, digital marketing to other programmes like the faculty of law, faculty of business, faculty of sciences.”
One of the students, Ruvimbo Murambi, from Warren Park High School said the workshop helped to shape careers through diverse mentorship.
“The workshop helped to shape careers through diverse mentorship. Facilitators from all angles, including arts, commercial and sciences, provided us with guidance and skills we can use in the future.”
