Jaguar School Challenge headline was incorrect
From: STEFAN MACK
Eden College
I HELPED organise the teams that took part in the Jaguar Primary School Challenge. I am writing this e-mail in response to the article published on Saturday about Eden College winning the Jaguar Challenge.
The problem was that the article was titled “Boys and their toys”. The team consists of four members. In the case of Eden College, we had two teams – X Team racers, which finished in first place, and Fast Intelligence, which finished in second place – the only school to have two teams in the national final.
Both teams consist of boys and girls. This was a conscious decision which we had made. The purpose of the competition is to encourage children to get involved in the STEM fields and especially young girls as it is a largely maledominated environment. The article refers to all the members as boys, which is harmful and inaccurate.
From: DR PARAMESPRI NAIDOO
Durban
As one of the mothers of the team members, Dipika Ramjugernath, a female Grade 6 pupil at Eden, and being a female engineer myself, it was quite disappointing to view the errors in your article.
Two team members were girls, Dipika Ramjugernath as well as Vongai Mubaiwa. This was not published correctly.
Furthermore the entire point of this Jaguar Challenge and many such activities being held is to encourage young learners, especially female learners in science and technology.
What a pity your headline fell into the typical stereotype.
● The editor says: My apologies to the contestants, their teachers and the schools involved in the competition for our misleading headline and errors in the story. The reporters had the information correct but mistakes were introduced during the subbing process.
We fully support promoting interest in science as broadly as possible and applaud this excellent initiative. We regret any inconvenience caused.