Marriaqua Government hosts Career Week

The Marriaqua Government School hosted a Career Week which culminated last Friday, March 16, with students dressed as their desired profession and marching through the community.

Students were dressed as nurses, doctors, surgeons, auxiliary police, sergeants, CID and black squad police officers, trainee teachers, Vinlec engineers, contractors, lawyers and professional football players.

The entire school, including the Early Childhood Pre-school and the adjacent Methodist Day-care and Pre-school, participated and marched from the school grounds to the Mesopotamia police station junction and back to the school and many parents and villagers came out in support. Some joined the procession and held placards like “Education is a gift that none can take” and “If you don’t like books you’ll be a crook”. While some students danced and others sang to a jingle, “Education is the Way”.

Headteacher Kathleen Joyles, said during the week, different professionals spoke to the students about how they got into their career field.

“I told them, give them (the students) exactly your journey to where you are now, you know your ups and your downs. So that encouraged them and let them know that getting an education is not easy. You have to work hard. Sometimes you have to go without food to get where you have to go, so that’s what happened during the week,” Joyles said.

She explained that Friday’s march was intended to show the children that putting on the different uniforms was not just for show, but that it directed them to which profession they want to be involved in.

“Why am I wearing this uniform? I know that my education is important for me to realise my goal… So that was the focus, why we were doing this. We hear children say we have to study hard, but when the professionals spoke to them, they now say they are willing to work hard.

Joyles explained that teachers were dressed in uniforms related to the professional they had wanted to be as children and asked the public to encourage education.

The children are expected to present to their individual classes about what profession they chose.