Johannesburg - When Ndavi Nokeri was crowned Miss South Africa on Women’s Day last year, she vowed to make education one of the aspects of focus during her reign.
This led to the creation of the 24-year-old beauty queen starting the Ed-Unite campaign, where she seeks to help equalise the playing field by ensuring equal education for all – regardless of colour or economic status.
In a bid to put the educational campaign in the spotlight, Nokeri this week started an educational audio-visual podcast.
As every weekly episode is set to have a different theme, Nokeri will use the platform to hold conversations with experts in the education sector to help pupils and their parents or guardians receive the decision-making information they need.
“The podcast series ensures that we reach every corner of the country, and as someone who’s passionate about seeing our youth have more access to information and opportunities, having these conversations is a step in the right direction,” she told The Saturday Star this week.
“I believe that the inequality in our education isn’t just based on the curriculum students are exposed to, but the holistic support system that they have access to and I believe that Edu-Unite perfectly narrows that gap,” she said.
In each episode of the podcast Nokeri will deal with topics that affect the lives of ordinary students, pupils and educators. Episodes will also be information-rich and provide an insight into what is available within the sector, and where and how to access it, she said.
“In conjunction to all the work I’ve been doing on the ground through Ed-Unite, I realised that we wouldn’t be able to physically go to every school in South Africa to spread the necessary information and to raise awareness on certain issues, but I knew that our words could travel countrywide and worldwide.
“So through the podcast, we are able to reach more people, and have meaningful conversations that can shift people's mindsets as well and steer our society to becoming more conducive and inclusive for education,” Nokeri explained.
One of the topics that Nokeri will explore on her podcast is student funding and to address this issue, Miss SA 2022 will be joined by Karabo Mohale, executive deputy chairperson of The National Youth Development Agency and Lennox Wasara, Mastercard Foundation alumni.
Meanwhile, another episode will be dedicated to careers and will include information about the changing world of work in this digital age. This will see Vumile Msweli, a career coach and CEO of Hesed Consulting being hosted on the podcast as he provides some of the most frequently asked questions in this area.
In addition, another subject Nokeri feels strongly about is Period Poverty, and this topic will be given an entire episode on Ed-Unite Talks. For this segment, she will be joined by Candice Chirwa, Minister of Menstruation, founder and director of Qrate and a Menstrual Activist.
Nokeri explained that the goal of her podcast is to break down the information barrier “that for many years, has kept too many disadvantaged areas excluded from opportunities that can forever change their lives.”
“It is to bring everyone into the same room, regardless of their background, to receive integral guidance on their journey to success.
“Through this platform we want to be building a youth that has been mentored by experts and are equipped for every opportunity that comes their way, and even for them to be able to create their own opportunities,” she said.
Miss SA 2022 also believes that her podcast is for every individual who is on a journey to growth.
“I believe that it will play an integral role in reshaping society and I also believe that the conversations will open up new ways of thinking and bring in solutions that can be implemented nationally,” Nokeri said.