As the World Celebrates Veterinarians, also Celebrate Women and Girls in the profession

Johannesburg 26 April 2023: From the classroom to the boardroom, female veterinarians are blazing trails in their chosen profession.

Saturday April 29 is World Veterinary Day. It is organised by the World Veterinary Association which represents more than 500 000 veterinarians worldwide.

The day provides an opportunity to recognise and honour the work of veterinarians and their teams who dedicate their lives to promoting animal welfare, preventing, and treating animal diseases, and ensuring food safety and public health. The day also encourages the public to learn more about animal health and welfare issues and to support the veterinary profession.

While many women are veterinaries today, this has only come about through pressure to transform the profession – a process that TechnoGirl Trust is keen to ensure does not flag, and to which end it has partnered with the University of Pretoria (UP). The Faculty of Veterinary Science of UP is the only faculty of its kind in the country offering a Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree (BVSc), together with its full-time veterinary nursing (BVetNurs) programme.

By means of such partnerships, TechnoGirl Trust enables girls to experience careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and ultimately to make informed career choices. Veterinary science firmly falls within that category and TechnoGirl Trust consequently wants to raise awareness for this initiative and in so doing to motivate young girls, especially in quintile 1-3 schools to become veterinarians or veterinary nurses. “Young girls need to be informed that if they love animals there is this opportunity to develop a career as a vet or a veterinary nurse no matter what their circumstances are,” says Staff Sithole, CEO of TechnoGirl Trust.

The organisation is an award-winning, internationally recognised employment- and talent-management programme that was voted one of the top three programmes with the Generation Unlimited initiative. 

The TechnoGirl Trust is an innovative programme for girls and young women who show interest in the STEM subjects. Young female learners are earmarked to become beneficiaries of the programme. They gain access to knowledge and mentorship through a structured job-shadowing programme which empowers them to make informed career choices. This will lead to sustained employment opportunities and, in so doing, breaking the cycle of poverty.

“The programme is built on the understanding that exposure to workplaces such as veterinarian surgeries at an early age can significantly contribute towards motivating girls to take up STEM careers that are in demand and where women are under-represented,” says Sithole.

It was conceptualised in 2004 by founding partner Uweso Consulting in collaboration with UNICEF and the Department of Basic Education.

“The STEM subjects open the door to a wealth of interesting careers, and by highlighting all the women and role models advancing science careers, we show our girls that Africa counts on them to discover the next frontiers of research and innovation.”

TechnoGirl Trust is focused on making a large-scale impact at secondary and tertiary level, in which the earlier formative years are essential in establishing a pipeline of girls with an interest in STEM subjects through their basic education. This gateway to STEM careers sustainably and systemically enables the development of homegrown female science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills for a transformed society and a transformed veterinary sector.

Collaboration is key. TechnoGirl Trust works closely with strategic, funding and implementing partners, and through this collaboration has to date enabled more than 16 000 girls and boys to complete the structured programme and, on average, 75% of the beneficiaries advance their studies in STEM career fields.

The Trust’s primary goal is to ensure equal access to all levels of education and especially so in the fields of STEM. This is being achieved by empowering young women and girls by making every effort to end all forms of discrimination in the STEM industry while striving to ensure young women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.

ABOUT TECHNO GIRL TRUST

TechnoGirl is an innovative programme for girls and young women who show an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It was conceptualised in 2004 by founding partner Uweso Consulting in collaboration with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) and the South African Department of Basic Education.

TechnoGirl enables girls to experience STEM careers and ultimately, make more informed career choices.  Working closely with its strategic, funding and implementing partners, they ensured that to date, 16 000 girls and boys have gone through the structured programme and, on average, 75% of the beneficiaries advance to register STEM careers. TechnoGirl Trust has made a significant contribution to this growth by delivering large-scale impact.

TechnoGirl Trust endeavours to share the transformation burden with corporates by collaborating with them to develop girls who are better equipped for entry into STEM careers. This will lead to sustained employment opportunities and, in so doing, help break the cycle of poverty for the girls participating in the programme.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF TECHNO GIRL TRUST

For more information contact:Lunice Johnston CommunicationsLunice JohnstonMobile: +27 82 824 6384