By: Tebogo Mokwena
Emmanuel Omokhegbe, who has an online platform to help pupil and students, decided to create the networking site because the high dropout rate at universities is often caused by poor career guidance. With his platform, A Student’s Dream, he aims not only to reduce the dropout rate but also to increase graduates’ chances of employability. It also helps with applying for financing and guiding students until the end of their tertiary education.
Omokhegbe said that the business, which is based in Randburg, was registered in 2021 and officially launched last year. With his team of 16 employees, Omokhegbe assists high school pupils to follow the proper path in applying for a course of their choice. Omokhegbe told Vutivi News that students dropped out of university because they did not study what they loved. He came about this realisation while studying at the Vaal University of Technology and engaging with fellow students.
The platform assists by first conducting a psychometric test using AI. The results are then used to analyse the applicant’s personality, strengths, weaknesses and what they like. The platform then helps with university applications and applying for bursaries. Once the student successfully starts university, the platform then provides continued support, which comes in the form of mentors, career guidance, and mental health practitioners who work for the company. Users pay a once-off fee for the psychometric test and the services, which currently stands at R1000.
However, Omokhegbe said that they were working on making it more affordable for the less fortunate students. He told Vutivi News that when he was in high school, he wanted to study medicine. “I told one of my teachers and he told me that I was not intelligent enough,” he said. “I found out later in my life that he also wanted to study medicine but did not know how to go about it. “I also struggled with getting information on how to do medicine, so I understand the need for information when it comes to applying for courses.”
Omokhegbe said that he wanted to elevate people from underprivileged backgrounds and assist them with their dream careers. “We also want to be the biggest funnel of undergraduates and graduates in Africa,” he said. “There is a great need for knowledge about career choices because if we equip young people with the right information, they will make more fulfilling career choices.”
