Grants help students ‘dream’

HUNDREDS of young people across Africa stand to benefit from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project which is being constructed.

Bursary recipient Janethon de Klerk said the SKA provided her with the opportunity to explore the idea of renowned scientist Albert Einstein.

De Klerk is a second year computer science student at the University of the Free State.

“I cannot imagine my life were it not for the SKA. Each one of us can dream and we should dream big, that dream will keep you moving forward,” De Klerk said.

Itumeleng Molefi, a science teacher at Carnarvon High School has worked diligently to inspire a love of science in her pupils.

Molefi was employed through a programme run by the SKA, to help retain science teachers at schools in the Carnarvon area.

Molefi said he aimed to instil in pupils the belief that “anybody can be a scientist”.

“I want them to apply scientific methods to the questions they have.

“To instil the idea that science is easy to follow, it helped us build the modern world,” he said.

He started an initiative that saw his learners enter the Eskom Young Scientists Competition three years in a row, where they walked away with silver and bronze medals.

Their projects explored ideas of how the moon orbits the earth, the prices men and women pay for similar products, how infectious a smile is and how many ads could be found in beauty magazines, among others.

Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, said the running and maintenance of the SKA would continue creating opportunities for generations to come.