TshedzaApp™, a one stop career app designed by a group of CPUT innovators has been selected to be part of the prestigious SAB Foundation Innovation Awards.
A mobile app, TshedzaApp™, is a virtual career coach that allows users to interact with coaching professionals as well as find and access information on tertiary courses and bursaries in South Africa.
The competition rewards a product or process that addresses a challenge faced in communities.
Inventor and project leader, Mbavhalelo Mabogo, says the mobile app aims to counter the high dropout rates at tertiary institutions, by providing high school learners with correct information to ensure they make informed choices about their future.
“Many drop out because they are in the wrong course. Others cannot apply to university because they have the wrong subject combination,” says Mabogo, who is the WIL Coordinator in the Faculty of Engineering.
By inventing TshedzaApp™, Mabogo and his team hope to combat these problems.
The mobile app has a built in career screening tool, which based on information created by the user in their profile, will list possible study options along with the universities that offer the courses.
It contains information from higher education institutions in South Africa, which includes everything from course information, requirements, to funding options.
The mobile app will also assist high school learners in choosing the right school subjects, and also allows them to interact with industry professionals in a monitored and open discussion group.
Mabogo is supported by a team of industry and academic professionals. He says the mobile app has been tested at schools in Khayelitsha and Kraaifontein and has also had a pilot run on Google Play.
TshedzaApp™ can be accessed on Google Play and is free to users.
*Winners of the SAB Foundation Innovation Awards will be announced at the Gala Awards Ceremony in October 2015
