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Portia Primary School in Lansdowne and Bridgeville Primary School in Bridgetown were two of the lucky schools in the Western Cape to receive newly constructed science labs last week.
The handover forms part of the University of the Western Cape’s launch of nine science learning centres to support the teaching and learning of science at schools.
Professor Shaheed Hartley, the director of UWC’s Science Learning Centre for Africa (UWC-SLCA), explains the science department has won several awards for its programmes to improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in disadvantaged schools and has once again shown their commitment to the cause by providing needy schools with new science labs.
The new beneficiaries bring the total number of science lab centres constructed in Western Cape schools to 66, since the establishment of the programme in 2011.
“UWC-SLCA has teamed up with several businesses to provide a creative space to support the teaching and learning of science and technology at these schools,” Hartley says.
“UWC-SLCA also partnered with Garden Cities-Archway Foundation and the Western Cape Education Department to continue with a development plan to improve the infrastructure in which the subjects are taught.”
Other schools set to receive newly constructed science labs include Pelican Park Secondary School in Pelican Park, Nomzamo Secondary School in Somerset West, Elsies River Secondary School in Elsies River, Windermere Primary School in Kensington, PW de Bruin Primary School in Lamberts Bay, Clanwilliam Secondary School in Clanwilliam and Vredendal Secondary School in Vredendal.
Hartley says having to select nine schools for the project was a tough decision and the input by the science curriculum advisors played an important role in why these schools were selected
“The selection of the schools was dependent on a number of factors. We had to consider the science educators’ active participation in the training provided by UWC-SLCA, especially those who consistently attended the training and demonstrated commitment to advancing science education at their schools.
