BUSINESS AND TRAINING 17
Knowledge is Power
By
Rory Macnamara
Nelson Mandela rightly said , “ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world .”
That is , if the tools to educate are in the right place , at the right time and available for the student to learn and grow . and gutter and downpipe components . We also wish to thank Advanced Valves for supplying fittings & Valves .
Now , in South Africa we really have not done a good job of seeing the right tools are in the right place and the right time . We went from an “ outcomes based ” idea when our country was not ready for it . This was primarily due to the poor education received during the previous government ’ s tenure . The apprentice system went out of the window until recently when it seemed to make a comeback .
So back to education . Education provides the knowledge for us to apply our minds to whatever our chosen path is . In the case of plumbing , we were disappointed to learn that our Training and Vocational Educational and Training Colleges ( TVET ) have such a struggle to update curricula and barely have the necessary tools to teach plumbing . The whys and wherefores are political so I will not dwell on that aspect but rather on what is being done and acknowledging what the manufacturers and suppliers as well as official bodies / NGOs and others are doing to contribute posters and products in the now time .
We still require posters for installation diagrams for high pressure geysers as well as an Indirect solar system and finally a push-through geyser . If there are any out there that wish to donate these , please let me know . We will then package them all together and courier them with the June issue of Plumbing Africa to the colleges . PA
“ That is , if the tools to educate are in the right place ,…”
Plumbing Africa was approached to assist with supplying copies of the journal to 21 dedicated TVET Colleges by Mesopartners who work with the DHET to the lecturers specifically and we added bulk copies for the students as well . We then established that some did not even have material like illustrative posters as a point of reference .
Thanks to Marley Pipe Systems who supplied posters for each college on drainage pipes , sanitary fixtures ( waste & soil appliances ),
© Plumbing Africa | Rory Macnamara
Examples of some of the educational posters .
Front of Head Office
June 2022 Volume 28 I Number 4 www . plumbingafrica . co . za