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UJ initiative aims to improve maths, science skills

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 23 Mar 2017
Professor Bertil Andersson, president of Nanyang Technological University.
Professor Bertil Andersson, president of Nanyang Technological University.

The University of Johannesburg's (UJ's) Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS), in partnership with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), have introduced a maths and science Saturday school intervention programme for grade 11 learners.

According to JIAS, the programme aims to empower learners with optimal science and maths skills through a structured learning process of theoretical and practical learning, in an attempt to develop a crop of outstanding scholars and prepare them for tertiary level education. The lessons will be delivered by qualified and experienced tutors, specialists and advisees in the fields of mathematics and science, it adds.

Prof Peter Vale, director of JIAS, says maths and science educators are often criticised for poor performance in their subject matter and as a result, high school learners struggle to pass the subjects in a satisfactory manner. "There are many reasons for poor performance in maths and science. Partly it's to do with the very poor schooling system and partly a failure of teachers in the elementary phase of a learners schooling career. Competency in education begins in the first years of school, and also support at home is vital," he explains.

The JIAS was established in 2015, through UJ's partnership with NTU, in a quest to bring together the foremost researchers, intellectual leaders and experts from Asia and Africa to develop innovative ways of integrating African and Asian thought and research. This partnership was renewed this week with the signing of a second Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.

At the signing, the president of NTU Professor Bertil Andersson announced his personal financial contribution towards the mathematics and sciences high school training programme initiative, says JIAS.

"The commitment of Prof Anderson will ensure that, over and above the tuition, participating learners from historically disadvantaged schools will not only have access to the Institute's entire infrastructure, including Internet, but also be exposed to a variety of teaching skills and methods to enhance the level of learning and understanding," notes Prof Vale.

There is no doubt that the country needs serious intervention strategies that could strengthen mentorship, support and guidance in curriculum implementation at secondary school level, especially at Grade 11, he points out.

"The training programme will not only encourage the learners to do well in matric, but it will also prepare them for the challenges of higher education. University lecturers and tutors have noticed that some learners are not well prepared academically when they enter university. Through innovative science, computer training, practical experiments etc, JIAS is ideally poised to play an important role in this nation-building effort."

The programme, which will be named after Prof Bertil Anderson, will start in the second semester of 2017, with the intention of training between 50 and 70 pupils each year, says JIAS.

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