Opening ceremony and lectures

The Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, opened the Autumn Clinic for Science and Mathematics educators on 2 April. His keynote address set the tone for the conference, detailing the objectives of the strategy for Science and Mathematics Education, role and expectations of the 102 dedicated schools in improving the performance of learners. This will ensure that South African learners are provided with a sound footing that will enable them to interact confidently with the world.

Deputy Minister Mangena highlighted the historic nature of the gathering within the context of the strategy and the main objectives of raising participation and performance, providing high-quality Science and Mathematics instruction and improving the human resource capacity enabling teachers to deliver this quality and standard.

Also present were luminaries such as Professor T.W. Kambule, who shared valuable lessons and insights on teaching in a way that is accessible to learners, gleaned during a teaching career spanning five decades. He closed his presentation by saying: “Let the learners love you and t hey will love Maths, you have to be welcome in their class, they must not tolerate you.”

Other presentations dealt with the challenges that face South African educators.

Mr Mphahlele provided a detailed description of The Current Status of participation and performance in Mathematics and Physical Science. His presentation dealt with the statistics representing the level of uptake of Science and Mathematics at Standard and Higher Grade in South African secondary schools, and the success rate that these schools have demonstrated in recent years.

Mr Lehokos presentation was on Leading and Managing Change in Education. This was followed by a presentation by the Chief Director, Mr Ndhlovu, of a proposed Memorandum of Agreement between the 102 Dedicated Schools and Provincial MECs highlighting the support and resources that the Department of Education would provide to ensure the schools ability to meet the targets and the schools delivery towards meeting these targets.

The SHOMA Dinner

Day 1 ended with a gastronomic finale at the SHOMA dinner held for for Autumn Clinic participants. The SHOMA Foundation, a Multichoice subsidiary, focuses on providing teacher training to educators in remote areas through the use of satellite technology. Their contribution to the Autumn Clinic was a sponsored dinner at which Multichoice made a generous donation of 102 decoders to the Dedicated Schools for Science and Mathematics education. They also captured the entire Clinic on video footage, which will be distributed to their satellite locations so that teachers who could not attend the Clinic will be able to share in the learning that took place during the week.

Parallel Session Workshops

The remaining days of the Clinic were dedicated to parallel sessions, which took the form of workshops. During these sessions, Science and Mathematics educators were separated into subject groupings, where facilitators focused delegates’ attention on complex and c hallenging areas of subject knowledge. They engaged in practical exercises and had the opportunity to deepen their understanding, to better enable them to teach the content to learners. On the evening of Wednesday, 3 April, the educators from the US – who attended courtesy o f First African in Space, gave a presentation on how they had integrated the theme of Space into the US Education Curriculum to facilitate an understanding of Scientific and Mathematical concepts.

Dr David Molapo of the I Can Foundation delivered an inspirational speech on the evening of 4 April, which preceded a farewell braai complete with a jazz band to entertain delegates and guests of Dinaledi.

The focus, on Friday 5 April, was on building a community where collaboration and sharing of ideas and resources takes place among the 102 schools. The day was opened with a presentation and plenary discussion about Common Exam Preparation and Assessment. The Clinic was brought to a close with Mr Mphahlele making a presentation on the lessons learnt during the course of the week and the recommendations from these.

Ravi Naidoo, Managing Director of Interactive Africa project managers for the First African in Space project, enthralled the audience with a multimedia presentation. During his presentation, Ravi described how the First African in Space project is using various media to speak to teenage learners in their lingo and communicate the message of Science and Mathematics education to the youth.

Congratulations and Farewells

The Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal closed the Autumn Clinic with a message reflecting on the importance of providing young learners with the opportunity to be stars and shine. He added that translating this enthusiasm and excitement for Science and Mathematics education to learners was particularly relevant within the South African context, where Science and Mathematics had been regarded as being beyond the abilities of ordinary people and deliberately neglected. The current strategy is one of the government’s efforts at reversing the effects o f detrimental policies of the past by instilling self-confidence in learners, particularly those previously excluded from government support and assistance.

The Deputy Director-General closed proceedings with a Vote of Thanks, extended to all who had contributed to the success of the First Autumn Clinic for Science and Mathematics Edcuators. As delegates rose from their seats to collect their belongings and say their goodbyes, the John Maree Auditorium was filled with the voices of over 300 delegates as they sang the South African National Anthem.

Autumn Clinic Sponsors

SHOMA Foundation, Multichoice
First African in Space
US Agency for International Development
Casio

Exhibitors

Telkom Foundation
Sasol Foundation
SHOMA Foundation, Multichoice
First African in Space
Space Center Houston
Somerset Educational
Africa Scientific Instrumentation

A few comments from delegates

• "Bringing the 102 schools together was a brilliant idea. Knowing and meeting each other is very important, sharing frustrations and success was very motivating"
• "I listened to powerful speeches by speakers like Lehoko, Kambule, Molapo for the first time in my life"
• "It was really a clinic because they (speakers, facilitators) refreshed our minds"
• "It is the first time teachers on the ground come to discuss problems which they encounter in class situations with the highest people in education"
• "It was a real eye-opener for me in terms of the commitment of stakeholders involved on this project. This gave me a lot of motivation and determination to make my contribution a significant one"