Through education more women can become economic participants

The Professional Provident Society (PPS) celebrates and promotes the need for continuous gender equity gains.

The financial services provider is cognisant of the impact made in the 1956 women’s march and continues to reflect on the task at hand and ahead. For this reason, PPS has chosen to recognise some of South Africa’s first female university graduates in its recently launched brand campaign, Finding the Forgotten Graduate.

“We recognise and honour them because they achieved what was an unseemly impossible accomplishment in the early 1900s by becoming some of the first graduates to earn a degree in their chosen studies,” says Masenyane Molefe, Executive Trustee of the PPS Foundation and Group Executive of Human Resources at the PPS Group.

Charlotte Maxeke earned her BSc in 1901, with Havva Khayrunnisa Attaullah graduating in 1920 with a medical degree specialising in gynaecology, followed some 13 years later by Zainnunisa “Cissie” Gool, who earned a Master’s degree in psychology in 1933.

To celebrate, PPS acknowledges these three phenomenal South African female pioneers – whom most of us may not have heard of but who made their mark and deserve recognition for their contributions to South Africa’s history.

For this reason, PPS recently launched the “Finding the Forgotten Graduate” campaign. The campaign takes people on a journey, spotlighting pioneers from the colonial era who made exceptional contributions to the development of South Africa, where traces of their voices can still be heard in our constitution today. The aim is to inspire the next generation of trailblazers.

“Knowledge can change lives. This campaign will highlight how education breaks down barriers for greater human understanding and empowerment, paving the way to share success. It talks of perseverance and the will to succeed no matter the odds,” adds Molefe.

PPS supports driving the growth of graduates in critical fields such as actuarial science, geology, agricultural science, mechanical and industrial engineering, investment management and biotechnology, among others.

Adding women and other previously disadvantaged groups in these technical fields will – through raising education and skills levels – support the country’s socio-economic revitalisation. Aligned to the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals, education is the key to unlocking each of these goals and achieving success in the future.

The power of education continues to be the central driving ethos behind the PPS Foundation’s initiatives. Focused on the sustainable development of South Africa’s youth through quality education and knowledge and a conducive ecosystem, the vision of the PPS Foundation is to have and make a significant impact on society now and in years to come.

“It is through initiatives such as these that we can demonstrate how education gives way to the power of shared success, where PPS and the individuals work and succeed together in an integrated, collaborative way,” concludes Molefe.