STEM camp launched in Tsholotsho
HIGHER and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo on Thursday opened a STEM camp at Tsholotsho High School, a move which is aimed at improving Ordinary Level science results in the district.
The camp will end on 26 August and the event also saw the Minister handing over a “green” book, Mathematical set and scientific calculator to the 483 schoolchildren who are attending the camp. Hillside Teachers’ College lecturers will take the students on an intense maths and science training aimed at preparing them for their examinations.
Speaking during the opening of the camp, Professor Moyo said the programme was an essential one as it would give children in the district an opportunity to master the “mother” subject of the STEM initiative; Mathematics.
“The reason we are having this camp here is because we are told the usual programme used to take the top four from Tsholotsho South and none from Tsholotsho North. We thought we did not want to mess up the programme but we thought of including everyone in Tsholotsho North who is doing Mathematics, expose them to this intense training then we see what happens come November.
“I must point out that earlier in the year we did a tour of schools in Tsholotsho North to find out the reasons why they were performing badly especially in Mathematics. When we asked the school heads they said these kids don’t have past exam papers in the form of green books, they also said they don’t have calculators. We then undertook to purchase these green books and calculators and also have this special programme for them,” said Prof Moyo.
The Minister also expressed concern at some schools in the district, which he said were not utilising science kits that were provided by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
“We were aware that because of capacity issues the schools don’t have laboratories, hence most of them were doing intergrated science, so we thought because the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry had come up with a science kit, things were made easier but still in most cases schools were just locking away the kits, which is not good at all.
“However, the reason which these schools put forward was the lack of Science teachers but from our point of view after they put this reason, we decided to concentrate on Mathematics, so as far as STEM goes we thought the mother Science be Mathematics. Still when we said this, we were not impressed with the situation on the ground because we found that in most cases schools did not have Mathematics teachers but instead they were volunteer teachers,” said Prof Moyo.
He noted that it was all about inspiring, motivating and making the students understand the importance of excelling in the core STEM subjects.
“This programme will now be a continuous one, where every year we will be bringing all this students here with the support of lecturers,” he said.
In a telephone interview with Sunday News Matabeleland North provincial education director, Mrs Boithatelo Mnguni commended the initiative saying it was going to go a long way in improving the pass rate of learners in the district.
“This programme has been there for some time but this time Prof Moyo has helped expand the project as they are taking more students. We really appreciate such support as this goes a long way in assisting us improve the pass rate not only in the district but the entire province.
“As a province, we will continue coming up with such initiatives as they have been noted to be beneficiary to us. For example I know that in Nkayi there are some community members who have come in to launch the Nkayi Community Education project, which also runs in the same line with the Tsholotsho programme,” said Mrs Mnguni.