Johannesburg - South Africa recently joined the world to acknowledge the globally recognised International Science Week which is being commemorated from July 31 to August 5, 2023.
To mark this special week, the Adopt-a-School Foundation took the opportunity to celebrate the strides it has made in Life Sciences, Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences through its support of these subjects at the schools it has adopted.
The Adopt-a-School Foundation, a partner entity of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation through its Whole School Development (WSD) programme, aims to effect change across the school spectrum, providing a schooling environment conducive to teaching and learning.
The registered non-profit organisation envisions creating dynamic, transformed and accessible schooling environments that produce capable global citizens to meet the developmental needs of Southern Africa, through the implementation of its WSD model that goes beyond academic programmes.
This year, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) chose the theme “Transforming lives through evidence-based science” for National Science Week (NSW), an annual event that aims to exhibit and communicate awareness in science.
This countrywide celebration of science is an annual celebration of the role and value of science and technology in people’s daily lives. Further, it connects various stakeholders and role-players conducting science-based activities.
As part of its WSD initiative, Adopt-a-School has offered intensive science support to its adopted schools.
The Adopt-a-School Foundation’s chief executive Steven Lebere said: “We are proud of how well the schools we have supported with Life Sciences, Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences have progressed. For example, for Educator development – we have worked with 458 educators to date.
“We provide smart boards and projectors, and empower educators on how to integrate ICT into teaching and learning. We further equip them with research methods and the use of videos to teach learners so they can visualise what is being taught. Additionally, educators are trained on how to conduct experiments and are developed on content knowledge gaps and various methodologies.”
He added that 15 915 learners have received classroom support and assisted with supplementary lessons. In addition, the Foundation has ensured that 35 of its adopted schools in rural and urban communities have benefited from science laboratories.
Statistics show that at the end of 2022, the Department of Basic Education achieved 71.5% in life science and 69% in physical science.
“We are honoured to have contributed to the national result with our WSD programme that includes serious attention given to the Science subjects,” said Lebere.
Some matric figures show that performance in the subjects that received curriculum support from the Foundation between 2021 and 2022 increased in Physical Science, Accounting, Life Sciences and Mathematical Literacy.
The 2022 Adopt-a-School WSD Matric Performance Summary Report analysed the Physical Science performance of 31 schools and found that the pass rate had increased by 10.1% from a baseline result of 62.5% in 2014 to 72.6% in 2022. Also, Physical Science performance increased by 3.6% from 69% in 2021 to 72.6 % in 2022.
“Two of our schools, Boithaopo and Modilati Secondary Schools, attained 100% in Physical Science. We are proud to say that Modilati has sustained a 100% pass rate for four consecutive years while Boithaopo Secondary School sustained a 100% pass rate for two consecutive years.
“National Science Week is important as it lets us all remember how important the sciences are, and how much attention we need to pay to them,” said Lebere.