Teaching Project Management as a Life Skill to Previously Disadvantaged High School Students in Langa

Teaching Project Management as a Life Skill to Previously Disadvantaged High School Students in Langa

The application of project management skills can be a catalyst for real transformation. It can enable previously disadvantaged individuals to create strategies for the successful undertaking of many of the required tasks of daily living. These newfound skills are completely transferable to the work place and in fact can prove to be a valuable asset irrespective of their career choices.

The primary objectives of teaching project management as a life skill are to

1. Support community-based initiatives through project-based learning

2. Promote awareness of Project Management

3. Inspire the next generation of PM practitioners

4. Encourage the application of Project Management life skills

In the entire Western Cape in 2003 only 55 African language matriculates achieved university exemption with Science and Maths. 650 matriculates in Langa and only 6 achieved university exemption. None graduated with Science and Maths on the higher grade.

Eighty pupils, drawn from Langa Township attend LEAP Science and Math School and are given intensive schooling in maths and science. This select group of youths are provided with a unique educational opportunity that will prepare them for university exemption with science and maths in the higher grades. A group of 12 of these students have agreed to participate as the project team to build a study facility in this introduction to project management program.

Until recently, these students have had to pack themselves like sardines and study on the floor of a cardboard, corrugated metal, and wooden shack. This project focused on providing students with a place to do their homework. The objective of this project was to provide an environment that:

• Has a desk or table