A Career Fair at Rosh Pinah, aimed at providing opportunities to learners and the youth at the mining town to help them make informed decisions about career choices, was described as a success.

The event is a collaborative effort between RoshSkor Township, schools in Rosh Pinah, and institutions of higher learning.

Professionals and lecturers from UNAM and NUST engaged learners on their current career choices, while learners had the opportunity to pose questions during the one-day mini-career fair.

Admin and Development Manager at RoshSkor, Indira Shilongo, says, "It was very nice of the professionals to come and give the learners the opportunity to have a walk into their lives, presenting what the lives of different professions entail. That was the highlight, and we are happy to say that we have achieved what we wanted to achieve because the learners now know what is out there and how they can get access to what is out there because access is usually the most challenging thing."

Michael Kisting is a career guidance practitioner at NUST.

"There is an argument that the Southern Regions are one of those once that, when the grade 12 results come, are the top performers. Now the big question is, where are they at the university level? So that is basically why we came here, and I hope that we made an impact at least on one or two so that they can make informed decisions."

One of the presentations during the mini-career fair focused on admission requirements at institutions of higher learning.

A representative at UNAM Southern Campus, Albertina Nelumbu, says, "The main mission for today was to inform them about the different admission entry levels that we have at the university, which are the normal applications, and then we also have mature age entry to the university, and we also have the recognition of prior learning that we still feel that that information is lacking, so we keep on emphasising the application process itself and also in terms of the selection that leads to admission at the university."

Some of the students that spoke to nbc News were happy to learn from the different professionals and institutions that made presentations.

A student at Tsau ||Khaeb S.S., Elikan Shuudeni, says, "I heard a lot of choices that I could take, and I actually changed my second choice, which was being a teacher, to being an engineer because my first choice was being a boilermaker."

Marcella Munango, a learner at Hoeksteen Primary School, says, "After today, I learned a lot of new things, so now I am in the mixture, but I think that I am sure of what I want to be thanks to today."

Gordon Dippenaar, a Grade 11 Leaner at Tsau ||Khaeb SS, says, "What I really want to become is a chef, but my second choice is a teacher because I love working with children, like the younger kids. I love working with them; I just feel like I have a connection with children."