Vice-Chancellors
Director and staff of AIMS
Guests
Grandaunts
Ladies and gentlemen

I am always pleased to be part of events that celebrate success and achievement. I am particularly pleased when I share in celebrating the achievements of young people. Well done. I am proud of you and hope that this is the start of great things to come. This is a very special moment in your lives.

You have completed one of the best programmes on the continent. It has equipped you with advanced problem-solving skills. During your studies you were exposed to new knowledge, which you have embraced and which you will now take with you as you leave this institution.

I was informed that you spent three weeks in the company of some of the best international lecturers, who rated you very highly. That is indeed a great compliment. I trust that your interaction with these international experts impressed upon you the importance of collaborative work and I hope that you have been inspired to continue working together with great African scientists.

Furthermore, I am sure that you are inspired to go to great lengths to make your own discoveries. I specifically want to challenge you to make Africa visible in your works. I want to remind you to give attention to your own development but also to keep the continent's development squarely in your mind.

A recent study found that the real challenge for science development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region lies in building strong and enduring institutions of science. I am sure this also applies to the rest of the continent. Strong science institutions would be very beneficial to developing science capacity. Most countries in the SADC region do not have science systems developed to the level required by the local economy and society.

As you begin your careers, remember these developmental needs. Remember, too, that there are positive signs of local growth and development across the continent, which you can feed into. Bear in mind, also, that scientific problems are rarely limited to one country, or even one region, and for this reason national and regional priorities often overlap.

Use the important networks you have established during your time at AIMS to involve yourself in projects that reach across your borders, and benefit all those involved. Although AIMS is situated at the southern tip of Africa, it has a reach all over the continent.

This is particularly important given the scientific and education challenges facing our entire continent. All our departments of education and science in the continent are responding to the demands of promoting innovation, intellectual inquiry and academic success.

The choice made by AIMS to be an African initiative as a vital boost to our future success and you are all a resource we will call upon to enhance our progress. I want to ask you to spread the message of AIMS to all of Africa. As graduates you should play a role in your countries that seeks to expand young interest in Science and Mathematics.

We have to produce graduates in all fields but our development success will be uncertain if we fail to increase our Maths and Science success rates. I would like to congratulate AIMS on this achievement of producing another cohort of graduates. In your short existence you have produced 160 graduates from 30 countries and this morning's 52 grandaunts will push this number over 200. This is a proud record which many institutions can only wonder at.

Furthermore, I have been informed that 20 of today's grandaunts are women. This is yet another achievement that AIMS can be proud of, especially because women are underrepresented in the sciences across the continent. Indeed, the development and achievements of AIMS are in line with our national priorities. I am also pleased that we are to see all expansion of the AIMS model. I support the plans discussed at the launch of the Africa wide programme two months ago.

We regard it as imperative that our science programmes are structured in a way that allows interaction and engagement with the realities of our society. I hope that you will continue to extend your scientific abilities and your research interest in the African continent.

This is important because our graduates should regard themselves as being at the service of the communities from where they come. I would, therefore, like to close by congratulating you on your success. May you go from strength to strength in the good work that you do for science in Africa.

All the best.

Thank you.

Enquiries:
Lunga Ngqengelele
Tel: 012 312 5538
Cell: 082 566 0446
E-mail: ngqengelele.l@doe.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Education
24 June 2008