R1m hi-tech boost for pupils at Diepdale

HOPE could be seen and heard at Diepdale Secondary School in Diepkloof, Soweto, as pupils sang songs at the launch of the school’s state-of-the-art maths and science centre.

The nearly R1 million Allianz Maths and Science Centre was created through a partnership between Allianz Group and the SA Medical and Educational Foundation, and will provide more than 1 000 Grade 8 to 12 pupils with access to facilities and resources to improve hands-on learning and boost vocational skills.

These include classrooms smelling of fresh paint and filled with new maths textbooks that can be accessed on tablets, smart whiteboards that electronically display the periodic table of elements with a touch of a finger, LED microscopes and life-size models of the human body.

This is a big step up for the school, which did not have a single microscope before. Then, students had to learn about chemical reactions and the body from a textbook.

“I think learners will perform better because now we are learning things we can see in the labs,” said Tebogo Moroti, the Grade 12 class representative. “Learners prefer visual learning because once they experience something, they will never forget it.”

In 2017, Diepdale pupils had a 58% pass rate, with lower percentages in the subjects of maths and science, a rate the principal, Johannes Munakisi, called a disgrace. This is part of a larger national trend as South Africa is rated at the bottom of the world in maths and science.

“We cannot compromise the futures of these children,” Munakisi said. “We will improve results, we cannot negotiate about that.”

Allianz Global Corporate and Speciality (AGCS) Africa chief executive Thusang Mahlangu said these pass rates, combined with his own experience as a child growing up in Soweto, informed his desire to give back to the community. AGCS Africa was one of five winners in an internal Allianz Group competition between 31 countries, which called on participants to submit plans for innovative social-impact projects for a grant of almost R1 million. Mahlangu said they won because “our country needs it the most”.

Public officials, including representatives from the Department of Basic Education, promised to follow the school’s progress, and said the centre would serve as an example to other local schools.

Grade 11 learner Adelia Masinga said that even though she’d only started experimenting with the new tech that morning, it was already motivating her to reconsider her career. “I can already see better chances of great things happening.”