Khanyisa Dube, Head of Model Monitoring at one of SA’s leading banks volunteers as a Mathematics Director at Mihandzu Learning. Her role includes overseeing the running of the Maths programme across the different grades that Mihandzu supports. The 33-year-old holds a Master of Science in Mathematical Statistics and is passionate about learning.
What inspires you to keep going each day in your role as Mathematics Director?
As one of the Mathematics Directors, I have responsibility to develop and implement an effective Math curriculum by administering topics to be taught to learners, creation of material, monitoring and evaluation and finally, engaging with parents and teachers on Math issues. What keeps me going each day is the ability to engage the youth and contribute towards advancing their futures.
What programme does your organisation run to encourage young girls to be more involved in STEM?
Mihandzu runs educational support programmes in high schools located in under-developed areas. The core focus of our educational programme is Math and IT. The programme is presented in a way that continues to encourage our young girls to pursue STEM subjects, by tackling Math anxiety as best as possible. We aim to offer young girls skills and confidence to succeed in Math and Technology; so that we can retain girls into STEM fields and encourage them to pursue Math at college or university levels.
How would you motivate a young girl who wishes to follow this path but thinks they are not good enough?
I’m a firm believer in exposure, which is achieved through ensuring that young girls see women who are thriving and excelling in the STEM space. I would change my approach in how I present the variety of STEM careers to young girls. I would reframe the way STEM is explained and show them an array of women who are excelling in these careers, because a point of reference is important. Many young girls have the dream, but it gets lost along the way due to lack of tools or support. I want to encourage every young girl and let them know that they are capable. Cultivating that dream through mentorship is key in unlocking potential in these young girls.
Knowledge is valuable, and it helps us connect to everything happening in the world around us. Feeling challenged, resourceful, and having a sense of possibility is important to me. That is all attained and experienced through learning