Winds of change blow towards Science, Maths

Tumelo Mouwane | Wednesday September 6, 2017 15:25

The survey was conducted at New Look Primary School in here, Pitsonyane Primary School in Molapowabojang and Letsopa Junior Secondary School in Lobatse.

The director and founder of the organisation Granny Lesiamang said 272 students and eight teachers were interviewed orally and through questionnaires. The survey targeted Standard Six and Form Two students.

“We conducted the survey on students to test their attitude towards STEM and knowledge of basic STEM subjects and the other survey was conducted on teachers to get their perception on early STEM education.

“The survey in the three schools was achieved largely due to the cooperation of the schoolheads, teachers and students as well as the hard work that the team put in,” she said. Lesiamang said it is clear from the results that Maths and Science subjects require special attention, especially in schools that are distant from urban areas.

“The attitudes of the pupils towards the subjects are still not good. There is a whole lot of believe amongst pupils that Maths and Science subjects cannot be passed with higher pass rates like many other subjects which are doing good. At the end of the day, we could simply say from the 272 surveyed we still have a lot to do and special attention is required in this regard so that we see more engineers and more employers graduating and getting into the market in the future,” she said.

Lesiamang, a graduate of Missouri University of Science and Technology in the USA, founded the organisation on May 2017 and at the core of its mandate is women empowerment and development.

The STEM project is the organisation’s first project and the goal is to lobby for investment in quality STEM education, starting at lower levels of education as well as generate students’ interest in STEM fields with greater emphasis on the girl child. The pilot project is reflective of the large-scale needs assessment survey the organisation is set to undertake in 2018.