By Krisendra Bisetty
While their peers are having fun in the sun at the start of the school holidays, 160 teenage girls from several parts of the country are in KwaZulu-Natal to learn about the moon and the Earth.
And also space, biodiversity, engineering, HIV/Aids...
The girls are taking part in the national science and technology programme for young women 2002, an initiative of the department of science and technology that was launched in Durban on Monday. The city is one of two host locations for the programme which aims to provide the girls with opportunities to engage in an innovative, hands-on programme in science and technology in order to motivate and inspire them to study science.
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'I can't wait. This sounds very exciting' The Old Mutual-MTN Science Centre at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Umhlanga, is hosting 40 pupils between the ages of 12 and 17, and four facilitators from KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumulanga.
Programme manager Michael Peter said the pupils would be involved in various projects, including the making of a burglar alarm, a soft drink and the building of a model bridge.
They would also visit the Natal Sharks Board, the Palmiet Nature Reserve, New Germany Nature Reserve, Sea World and the University of Natal electron microscope centre.
There will be several talks and workshops, including an astronomy evening, Aids talks and workshops run by the reproductive health research unit.
"I can't wait. This sounds very exciting," said Grade 11 pupil Thoko Mokoena, from Dan Kutumela High School in Gauteng.
KwaZulu-Natal education minister Gabriel Ndabandaba, who launched the programme, said more programmes like it should be designed if the country was to make any meaningful progress "educationally, economically and otherwise".
He said that although the province's matric pass rate had risen from 57 percent to 62,8 percent in 2001, the pass rate in science and maths had remained below 40 percent.
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This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on December 10, 2002
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