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15 August, 2018 | |||
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#Womensmonth award-winning female architect takes ministers on tour of new pre-primary school. Joint statement by Minister Debbie Schäfer, Minister of Education and Today, we visited the new R10.2 million Barkly House Pre-Primary School in Newlands. The project is a conversion project that saw the former Newlands Clinic converted to a fully functional pre-primary school for the learners of Barkly House Pre-Primary School which had previously been accommodated in an old prefabricated structure. This project was executed by a professional team at the Department of Transport and Public Works, commissioned by the WCED and funded by a WCED Infrastructure Grant. The conversion project commenced in April, 2016, and was concluded in October 2017, involving alterations and additions to the existing Newlands Clinic to accommodate the new pre-primary school. The project also saw the construction of:
During the duration of the project, R3.9 million went to targeted contractor businesses while R2.2 million went to targeted suppliers and manufacturers. R262 000 was spent on local labour. An integral part of the professional team was lead architects, Ms Rahdia Khatieb Parker, who is an award-winning and leading female architect in her profession. Rahdia Khatieb Parker, an award-winning architect and leader in her field Rahdia is a professional architect who practices as a specialist Interpretation Strategist. Her focus is on Masterplanning and Spatial Economics. Rahdia co-founded ARCHI in 2011, where she has been the Head of Interpretive Strategy from 2011 to date. Her specialty also includes conceptual mapping and brand interpretation. Rahdia is committed to translating client's ideas to reality through sensory experience, which has made her the perfect partner in this conversion project. Rahdia has received the 2018 African Construction Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. This prestigious accolade highlights her impressive contribution to the built environment industry over the past 15 years. She has also received the 2016 Women In Construction Awards award for excellence in career development. In 2015 she was invited to participate at the UN World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction. Rahdia is a symbol of passion, drive and success, and is a great example to many young women seeking to make a positive impact not only in the male-dominated built environment profession, but in their country. Western Cape Government efforts to support young and talented women in construction The Masakh'iSizwe Bursary Programme is a flagship programme that focuses on attracting and facilitating the development and availability of skills identified nationally as scarce and critical, to meet the operational needs of the Department of Transport and Public Works and indeed South Africa as a whole. Masakh'iSizwe bursaries are awarded annually for study disciplines related to a degree, diploma or post graduate studies in the transport, engineering or built environment. The underpinning concept of the bursary programme is to empower financially disadvantaged youth through access to tertiary education. Just this year alone, Masakh'iSizwe has awarded 55 bursaries to talented young females studying at CPUT, UCT, and Stellenbosch University. These young women are studying towards qualifications in the built environment, in fields including civil, mechanical, transportation, and electrical engineering, architecture, mechatronics, property and constructions studies, to name a few. We are very proud of the work that we continue to do to empower women, particularly professional women in the built environment. WCED's commitment to championing early childhood development The department has funded the development of Early Childhood Development (ECD) facilities at schools across the province, managed by school governing bodies. Types of play include physical play; playing with objects; symbolic play; pretending, or socio-dramatic play; and games with rules. All of these activities help young children to develop physically, socially and emotionally as essential components of early childhood development. The WCED has invested heavily over the years toward achieving universal access to ECD. Effective ECD provides an important foundation for young children entering school in Grade 1. On this Women's Month, we are honoured to be celebrating Ms Rahdia Khatieb Parker, and all other professional women making a positive impact not just in their fields, but in their respective communities and in the lives of the future generation.
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