Lack of labs holding back science pupils – report

SOUTH Africa came 39th out of 39 countries in an assessment last year that focused on the science performance of Grade 9s.

This sent shock waves across the country‚ prompting the question: where are we going wrong?

Now a report from the Institute for Race Relations has revealed a major part of the problem – only 18% of high schools have a laboratory‚ and they are unevenly spread across provinces.

In Gauteng‚ the Western Cape and the Free State‚ only about a third of high schools have labs – but they are the best off.

Worst off are the Eastern Cape and Limpopo‚ where only about 6% of high schools have labs.

Mpumalanga‚ North West‚ KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape have labs in 10% to 20% of high schools.

“I believe equipped science labs are essential in high schools,” education specialist Judy Andrew said.

“Many schools have the laboratory but it is not equipped. An innovative educator can use a classroom to teach science in the early years.

“But once experimental work at high schools needs to be done‚ without an equipped laboratory the teaching and learning of science becomes extremely difficult if not impossible.”

This comes in the wake of ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa’s words on the value of science at the Science Forum in Pretoria this month‚ when he spoke of how important it was as a subject.

“We have a responsibility to develop a community of young people that believe there is a future for science in South Africa and on the continent‚” he said.

“They must see themselves as agents of development‚ working to redesign the urban environment‚ expanding transport networks and building new‚ more sustainable human settlements.”

But Andrew asked how this could come about without laboratories.

The Department of Basic Education was not available for comment.