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Matric learners hone maths skills at Kovsies

19 July 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish

MEC for Education, Dr Tate Makgoe, presents an award to Khesa Maphakiso from Beacon High School at the ceremony.

Projections indicate that by 2020 about 80% of all jobs will require some level of competency in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Also, given the rising unemployment rate and the subsequent demand for entrepreneurial skills in the past few years, STEM education has become a priority for South Africa.

A step in the right direction

Equipping young people to be efficient in the world of work and business is a major driver behind the country’s education system. The MEC for Education in the Free State reiterated the importance of STEM subjects. Dr Tate Makgoe addressed about 200 top-performing Grade 12 learners from quintile 1-3 schools in the province who were attending the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) maths camp.

Making mathematics fashionable

The week-long camp recently closed with an awards ceremony which was held on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). Nine of the creams of the crop of matric learners were honoured for their achievements in mathematics, physical science, and accounting.

Zinhle Gumbi, from Morena Mokopela Secondary School, one of the three Mathematics Top Achiever award recipients has become more determined to choose a maths-related profession. “I have told myself that any career I follow must include maths. Dr Tate Makgoe said we must prove to people that the black child can do it.”

Emerging as one of the Accounting Top Achievers was Albert Ramatsekane from Tsoseletso Secondary School who intends to pursue a Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification. “The camp has boosted my confidence. Now I can choose the CA stream without thinking twice.”

Sowing the seed and reaping the fruits

Accounting lecturer Mojalefa Mosala was satisfied with the results of the camp. “I am happy to see many familiar faces in my classes who have attended previous camps. It means we’re doing something right.”

Mosala, a former assistant camp organiser, has confidence in the project as it “affords a rare opportunity to learners who have not been exposed to information, the higher learning environment, study skills and motivational figures to experience all of these”.
Kovsies prides itself in partnering with industry stakeholders to build the future of the country, one maths camp at a time.

News Archive

Second OSM concert inspires Heidedal youth

2016-12-08

Sehle Mosole, left, and Jonandrea Pofadder back,
with the children from the ROC Foundation during the
second OSM community outreach in Heidedal, Bloemfontein.
Photo: Supplied

“The project is special because it is an event in the community, by the community.” This is what Gerda Pretorius, lecturer in the Odeion School of Music (OSM) at the University of the Fee State, said about the second music concert hosted by the OSM in Heidedal, Bloemfontein.

The concert, in collaboration with the Reach Our Community (ROC) Foundation on 26 November 2016, was a follow-up on the concept that was started last year. As part of the outcomes of the MUSE3706 module, the third-year Music Education students engage in a project in a specific environment. For this project the MUSE team, led by Pretorius and Anchen Froneman, collaborated with the ROC Foundation in Heidedal. Two third-year students in the OSM, Sehle Mosole and Jonandrea Pofadder, facilitated the event in 2016.

Long relationship between ROC and UFS

Since 2008, the UFS has successfully partnered with ROC through service-learning and community-engagement projects in which students from across all seven faculties participate. The foundation strives to address the challenges resulting from factors such as poverty, unemployment, HIV/Aids, single parenting, lack of guardianship, and physical and sexual abuse. In the Afterschool Care programme, the children engage in educational, cultural, and recreational activities.

Children who form part of the foundation’s Afterschool Care programme, showed their impressive music skills to their parents and guardians in attendance.

Spontaneous participation by community

“I was deeply touched by the spontaneous participation and appreciation of the community for art-related – in particular music and dance – events,” said Pretorius. A highlight was the community’s involvement in the event and the value it adds to the students’ organising skills.

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