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 Maths Centre and Datatec, together with the Mpumalanga Department of Education has entered into a partnership programme to intervene in educator and learner performance in Maths and Physical Science in 10 schools at Siyabuswa (Mpumalanga). The 10 schools are from a previously disadvantaged community in rural areas.
The intervention will run for a period of three years, starting from March 2011 – 2013. The project will aim at improving teacher's conceptual knowledge in Maths and Physical Science and to ensure curriculum coverage.
The circuit manger Ms. Shabangu emphasized the challenges they face as the department in Maths and Science and believes that this intervention came at the right time. She embraces the opportunity with faithfulness and also mentioned that 3 secondary schools will benefit in a way even though they were not identified by the project.
Maths Centre's National Executive Director, Sharanjeet Shan shared a presentation which showed the results for the assessment Maths Centre did for the grade 10 - 11 teachers and learners in Maths. She also shared a small exercise which the teachers had to do within a minute, which she said was for grade 4 learners. This exercise created an excitement amongst the teachers, especially when they didn't get it right. She emphasized that teachers have to take it upon themselves to improve their personal development as it has been advised that most teachers are two levels below the standard they are teaching.
Mr. Dave Lello, a Datatec trustee emphasized the fact that if teachers do not upgrade their level of understanding the subjects, as well as their personal development, then they will not have the energy to perform extraordinarily.
Mr. Aravind Venkatraman, Director of Edukite Learning, demonstrated the benefits of using Edukite interactive curriculum software to improve teaching methods and enhance the quality of learning.
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| Maths Centre's National Executive Director, Sharanjeet Shan showing the solution to the exercise she shared with the teachers. |
Mr. Aravind Venkatraman, Director of Edukite Learning, demonstrating the benefits of using Edukite interactive curriculum software. |
Each of the ten schools has been provided with a touch sensitive tablet laptop for educators and a data projector to use in the classroom. In addition, Datatec has pioneered the use of a 1:1 computing solution (one computer for each student) in Maths Centre's ICT projects. A group of twenty learners in a class will get a chance to access custom-built learner laptops (Intel-powered Classmate PC) with pre-loaded curriculum software and thus learn Mathematics and Science at their own pace in an interactive manner.
Mr. Venkatraman conducted an interactive session to demonstrate how easy it is for educators to use learner laptops for conducting quick assessment to identify knowledge gaps before teaching a lesson. Each of the participants at the launch function was given a short general-awareness quiz and results were obtained instantly, thereby saving time in administration of tests.
The highlight of the ICT session was a demonstration by Mr. Daniel Kgobane, Physics teacher from Mmashadi Secondary School, a first-time user of computers, showing the enthusiasm to demonstrate how he will use the software in class. He explained how easy it is to explain the "mechanism of motor" and the "right hand rule" when a virtual experiment can be seen by learner. He felt that the software can be used as a teaching aid for teaching concepts that are abstract in nature. He was confident that this ICT-centric project will help learners improve their performance.
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| Mr. Dave Lello, a Datatec trustee emphasized the fact that if teachers must upgrade their level of understanding their subject, as well as their personal development to perform extraordinarily. |
Ms. Wilna de Villiers (Datatec) and Mr. Richard Buhali (Maths Centre) busy with a draw to determine which school will get the first Classmate PC. |
Mr. Mabena, the District Director also had a few words to share. He started by acknowledging the launch as he feels that it was a demonstration by an NGO (Maths Centre) which shows commitment and support. He stressed that the DoE alone cannot improve education levels, hence it is appreciated if NGO's are coming to party. He also mentioned that Sharanjeet was not just giving a speech, but was conducting a lesson with all her energy she should go back to classroom teaching. He touched on Dave's speech which was a motivation to all those attending the launch and also stressed that everybody needs to motivate him-/herself so that people can look at you from left to right and see you because you embrace life as well as the future.
Mr. Mtswenyi gave a vote of thanks to all who have attended the launch.
Lastly, Sharanjeet thanked Ms. Wilna de Villiers for making sure that Datatec is behind this project all the way.
The secondary schools which are selected as per the mandate of the Donor are: Sobantu Secondary School, Duduzile Secondary School, Vezilwazi Secondary School, Makhosana Secondary School, Mmashadi Secondary School, Siyathokoza Secondary School, Bonginhlanhla Secondary School, Ubuhlebethu Secondary School, Madoda Secondary School, and Somkhahlekwa Secondary School.
This article submitted by:
Nomvula Zono
Maths Centre Media Officer |
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