BRIGHT PUPIL HEADS TO LONDON

Learner tops in Science Olympiad

LIMPOPO whizz kid Risuna Rivombo will be spending two weeks in London after being named as one of the top pupils at the National Science Olympiad.

The 17-year-old from Vuwani came up tops among pupils from previously disadvantaged schools in physical science after obtaining 70% in tests written in March. Rivombo is in Grade 12 at Mbilwi Secondary School in Sibasa.

The school is renowned for producing 100% pass rate in matric results. Rivombo was one of over 19 200 pupils from schools across the country and its neighbours who participated in the National Science Olympiad, a flagship project of the SA Agency for Science and Technology, a National Research Foundation (NRF) business unit.

The Olympiad, open to grades 10, 11 and 12, honoured its top achievers at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on Thursday. “I didn’t expect this. The first thing that surprised me was being called to be one of the learners to come here; it was quite a shock,” said Rivombo.

She said she had first entered the competition while in Grade 10 and gave it another try this year because she thought “it will be easier now that I’m in Grade 12. To be honest, I wasn’t really prepared for the Olympiad but it came at a time when things were not so hectic at school.”

Rivombo’s parents said they were excited by their daughter’s achievement and that she had made them proud. “We received the news at night on Thursday and we couldn’t sleep because we were so excited,” said Rivombo’s father, Robert.

Rivombo and three other pupils from Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal will spend two weeks at the London International Youth Science Forum later this month. The forum brings young people from all over the world to the city, and the two weeks include visiting research and scientific establishments at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. NRF’s Dr Beverley Damonse said they received entries from 325 schools across southern Africa, including 12 from Namibia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

“The highest number of schools and participants came from Limpopo, where recently a number of schools were destroyed. I do commend educators and learners and hope that they remain dedicated to teaching and learning despite the recent setbacks,” said Damonse.

Another Limpopo pupil, Tebogo Raphadu, came tops in the category of previously disadvantaged schools in physical science with 61%.

The Grade 11 pupil at Phala Secondary School in Bochum said he entered the competition to test his capabilities against others.

Zimbabwean pupils led the pack in category of SADC countries in both physical science and life science.