AreoBuddies: designed to improve maths, science marks

AeroBuddies founder Joseph Phalwane, centre, with Barry Manilal, left, and Thabani Mthiyane. Picture: Supplied

AeroBuddies founder Joseph Phalwane, centre, with Barry Manilal, left, and Thabani Mthiyane. Picture: Supplied

Published Dec 15, 2016

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A Soweto resident has created an innovative educational programme which aims to fundamentally improve maths and science education in South Africa.

Joseph Phalwane, 40, is the founder of the award-winning AeroBuddies programme - a programme that uses flight simulation, among other aviation techniques, to pique school pupils’ interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem).

South Africa’s schoolchildren were ranked a dismal 75th out of 76 countries in maths and science performance, according to a report released last year by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The ranking was based on a mixture of international assessments including the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, which studies the maths, science and reading performance of 15-year-olds in OECD member and non-member countries.

Phalwane, who has 10 years' experience in the aviation industry, told The Star that creating the programme was his way of contributing to remedying some of these discouraging reports.

“The other thing that made me start my business is, if you go to pilot training schools across the country, you will find many young people who have not completed high school yet are at the schools training for their private pilot licence. That shows that young people have the capacity and ability to understand complex things - if they are given the opportunity to do so."

He said his programme was an extra-curricular activity which costs R350 in monthly membership fees at his newly leased centre in Soweto, adding that this fee was comparable with other extra-curricular programmes. “When a child engages with flight simulation, for example, it looks like a game, but it is actually teaching them how to solve problems in maths and science in real life. It helps that when they go back to class, and the teachers teach them various concepts, they can link that with what we are doing in our programme,” he explained, adding that pre-school children could also benefit from early introduction to Stem subjects.

Flight simulation entails using a device that artificially recreates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies - primarily for pilot training.

AeroBuddies beat 79 other submissions to take first prize at the recent ATNS Avi Afrique Innovation Summit 2016 Ai Awards.

Air Traffic Navigation Systems chief executive Thabani Mthiyane said these awards “seek to create a platform that will bring in great ideas and assist innovators in their innovations into commercially viable products or services. Second, they are aimed at building a pipeline of relevant aviation-related ideas that address the challenges faced by the aviation industry”.

Chief executive of The Innovation Agency Barlow Manilal - the awards’ main sponsor - also praised Phalwane’s innovation, saying the incorporation of every child’s passion for aviation with educational tools would ensure an improvement in stem education. “Mr Joseph Phalwane was able to create a social innovation that in fact will produce many other Joseph Phalwanes,” Manilal said.

Phalwane is in the final phase of obtaining a private pilot's licence - a realisation of a childhood dream. He says he will continue creating social innovations to improve maths and science learning.

@khayakoko88

The Star

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