South African Airways introduces young girls to the world of aviation

“Hosting the group of girls forms part of our efforts to interest young people in the exciting world of aviation. We have a number of youth programmes in place with which we empower the youth such as learnership programmes, an apprenticeship programme and a graduate programme,” says Lusanda Jiya, General Manager Shareholder and Stakeholder Relations. 

Take a Girl Child to Work Day is an annual corporate social investment event, held in South Africa since 2003. Companies involved organise for female learners (school pupils), usually from disadvantaged backgrounds, to spend the day at their place of work on the last Thursday of May. 

The initiative is organised by Cell C, a cellular service provider, and endorsed by the South African Department of Education. Cell C Take a Girl Child to Work Day has become a respected movement aimed at imparting knowledge to girl children. 

The group of 20 young girls from the Charlotte Maxeke Secondary School in Tembisa participated in an exciting day programme at SAA, and its Technical division, SAA Technical, where they were introduced to exciting aspects of aviation. 

The learners had the opportunity to see how a flight simulator works, and were inspired by female leaders in the airline who have made their mark in the world of aviation. 

“We hope that the young girls have today learnt that aviation holds many exciting possibilities. We believe that with all these initiatives, we make a valuable contribution to pique the interest of learners in aviation as a career choice – a clever one, since aviation is growing in leaps and bounds,” said Jiya.