So committed is aspiring property leader Jairaj Shekhawat that he completed his high school work experience on the first week of school holidays.
Jairaj, 15, joined Renewal SA and the Department for Housing and Urban Development (DHUD) for a glimpse inside the inner sanctums of South Australian development, extending his passion for resolving the national housing crisis.
At Renewal SA, he started his day with a one on one with Chief Executive, Chris Menz before overviews with Project Managers, Shannen Mortimer (Prospect) and Emily Salvati (Seaton).
He then embarked on a walking tour of Renewal SA’s North Terrace projects including Lot Fourteen with Development Manager, Jack Holmes and together they envisioned 275 North Terrace coming to life.
It’s been a big year already for the year 11 student, who represented SA youth at Parliament House as part of The Advertiser’s Teen Parliament initiative in February.
Jairaj’s big idea to solve the housing crisis with modular, prefabricated apartments scored a $10,000 scholarship which will go towards further education when he finishes school next year.
Jairaj said his vision for solving the housing crisis came from a variety of factors, including living in a high-rise apartment during a recent stay with relatives.
“This all came about through my recent family holiday to India and my research on modular housing in China and Europe, so I hope to be able to contribute to real solutions one day,” he said.
Thankfully, we got the tick of approval from Jairaj who is passionate about providing sustainable homes, and plenty of them, after feeling inspired by India’s high-rise resolution.
“It was a really enjoyable and interesting few days with DHUD and Renewal SA and I thank everybody for their time and support,” Jairaj said.
“It was great to see how they are doing affordable housing, and it was interesting to learn about the Seaton and Prospect projects being a combination of rent and Housing Trust, and how they are developed.”
Jairaj also uncovered many possible career options for post-school study in addition to engineering and architecture.