Here’s why we believe the children are the future

Hands up anyone who remembers the Whitney Houston R&B classic, The Greatest Love of All? The opening lyrics are: “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.” Whitney sang it best, but it’s also something our Managing Director, Kevin Dersley, pipes at the top of his lungs in the mornings from the shower (well, we’re fairly certain that’s the case…) – and it’s also something we at Haslop & Mason fervently believe in.

Whitney sang it best, but it’s also something our Managing Director, Kevin Dersley, pipes at the top of his lungs in the mornings from the shower (well, we’re fairly certain that’s the case…) – and it’s also something we at Haslop & Mason fervently believe in.

Helping our talented young engineers to think critically in the age of AI is, for us, more important than ever. So that’s why we recently conducted a practical session focused on critical thinking with a group of talented youngsters who are part of the phenomenal iGEMS programme in Gqeberha.

iGEMS, which aptly stands for “Incubating Great Engineering Minds”, is a multi-phase education-to-employment initiative by the Unity in Africa Foundation, equipping youngsters not only with practical skills but with the mindset needed to navigate an increasingly complex working world.

The workshop session, led by our Process Solutions Manager, Amber-Ann Fourie, went beyond technical ability and encouraged students to step back and examine how they think, process information, and make decisions in an environment where information is constantly changing and not always reliable.

“We spent the day working on something that isn’t always taught enough: how to think. Technical skills are important, but so are critical thinking, communication, and awareness,” Fourie explains. “The world these students are entering is noisy, there’s information everywhere – and not all of it is true.”

Throughout the session, students unpacked how cognitive biases and emotional responses influence decision-making.

“The aim was to give them tools to think independently and not accept something at face value just because it sounds convincing,” Fourie adds.

For many students, the experience was eye-opening.

“Today was really about understanding how we think. It made me more aware of how easily people can be influenced and how to avoid that,” reflects iGems student Tagmeed Salie.

Erin Beling echoes this: “Going forward, I’ll take more time to analyse information instead of jumping to conclusions. I want to make more considered decisions.”

For Kamga Noumatcha, the confidence gained through open discussion stood out: “I didn’t realise how outspoken I could be. Through the debates, I saw that when I consider both sides of an argument, I can think more clearly and express myself better.”

Perhaps most telling was the shift in mindset sparked by the debate segments, as Muhammad Baboo notes: “In a discussion about hard work versus opportunity, I was quite fixed in my view. Hearing other perspectives made me realise I hadn’t fully considered them. It showed me that I need to be more open-minded.”

Helping shape individuals who can question, adapt, and think independently in a fast-changing world will no doubt benefit us all in the coming years.

If you’re looking to partner with a team that brings both technical expertise and future-ready thinking to the fore, connect with us at 041-451-0935 or sales@handm.co.za.