SPU’s Inzalo Project is an outreach to Northern Cape schools to promote science education sponsored by Sasol.
The project, which has been operating for a year, aims to identify and interact with schools where there is a need for support and for building capacity in the field of science education.
SPU, together with the Northern Cape Department of Basic Education (NCDoBE) and the Sasol Inzalo Foundation seeks to establish collaborative partnerships with schools in the Northern Cape in an effort to improve the quality of science education by providing these schools with educational resources which they otherwise lack or infrastructural or human resource challenges they may experience.
The project is also geared towards the facilitation of science-related experiments and demonstrations at participating schools as well as providing guidance to science educators.
The aim of the project is:
• To provide training opportunities to facilitators from SPU and NCDoBE in the use of the mobile laboratory.
• To travel to underperforming schools with the mobile laboratory in order to support, improve and develop the necessary skills and knowledge needed in the performance of science-related practical work such as experiments and demonstrations.
• To expose learners to the values and use of science-related technologies in a real-life context.
The pilot project highlighted the need for some form of intervention on behalf of science educators within the Frances Baard District.
Four high schools were selected: Emmanuel Secondary, Tshireleco Secondary, St Boniface Secondary, Homevale Secondary and one primary school, Herlear Primary.
The focus of the 2018 project was on Grade 10: Physical Sciences (Physics and Chemistry) and Life Sciences & Grade 6: Natural Science-Intermediate Phase.
During the advocacy week, school visits to participating schools also focused on school lab inspection/availability of resources and equipment/school and teachers’ timetables.
SPU Project Co-ordinator Luchmen Poonawassy witnessed the first visit of the mobile lab to Emmanuel Secondary for Life Science demonstration.
Subsequent visits were made to the other participating schools for the Life Science demonstrations. Senior science students’ participation was incorporated into the school visit presentations, under the guidance of their respective lecturer (co-presenter).
Intermediate students at Grade 6 level for Natural Sciences were also assisted. Information was gathered on the progress of the project through feedback from lecturers and science educators who are participating in the project and an ETDP-SETA intern was appointed to SPU as a lab assistant.
