App helps ease transition from school to tertiary level
THE conventional education system does little to prepare students for the transition from high school to tertiary level.
With a plethora of options available, it can be incredibly overwhelming for a student who is unsure of what the next step should be or what direction to take.
The progression of technology allowed Mpumzi Swana, 29, to leverage off the digital age and create an app called Edusmart that provides a one-stop solution for students who need key tertiary information pertaining to career choices, options on where to study and bursary or scholarship information.
Not just an information app, Edusmart offers career guidance services to assist students who are confused about their career paths and provides them with psychometric evaluations and aptitude tests based on their personality.
Swana was born in the Eastern Cape and later moved to Morningside, Durban, where he attended the University of Kwazulu-natal and qualified with an honours degree in chemical engineering.
“I got into business while doing my final year at university, when I connected with a few engineering friends and we wanted to build a company that designed, developed and produced its own technologies,” said Swana, who is also the chief operations officer of Samac Engineering Solutions.
“We have since registered three engineering patents, won a national competition by Transnet and the SABS for innovative ideas and this year we were chosen as one of Africa’s top five youth innovators in energy,” he said.
Swana’s passion for business stems from developing ideas and making them accessible and valuable in society.
“My passion for business emerged when I was in high school and I would fall asleep every night creating business models in my head. This was my daily ritual. I knew then that I would go into business one day,” he said.
Swana knows that building something of value is not an overnight process and a firm foundation requires tenacity and great faith.
“My greatest lesson as an entrepreneur is that your tenacity and faith must be firm because valuable things take time to get cemented. So I advise emerging entrepreneurs to constantly strive to make their business a success and never give up.
“True leaders are the greatest readers and you need to seek information constantly. Finally, surround yourself with people who know more than you – it’s the key to keeping your business growing.”
With dreams of becoming one of the top technology developers in Africa and of achieving a listing on the JSE and NYSE, Swana is constantly motivated by a determination to realise his lifelong dream.
As someone who firmly believes in welcoming feedback, Swana will not accept the concept of failure and simply uses negative feedback as a tool with which to refine his business methodology.
• Edusmart is free and can be downloaded from the Google Play Store on Android smartphones.