SA: Pandor: Address by the Minister of Science and Technology, at the Innovation in Education Ceremony, Pretoria (07/10/2009)

URL: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Policy, Law, Economics and Politics - Deepening Democracy through Access to Information

This privately-owned website is operated and maintained by Creamer Media

Polity

Published: 07 Oct 2009

SA: Pandor: Address by the Minister of Science and Technology, at the Innovation in Education Ceremony, Pretoria (07/10/2009)

Date: 07/10/2009
Source: Department of Science and Technology
Title: SA: Pandor: Address by the Minister of Science and Technology, at the Innovation in Education Ceremony, Pretoria

HP CEO Gois Fouche

HP Vice President Jos Brenkel

Honoured awardees and distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

I would like to begin by thanking HP for this important initiative. The DST is firmly committed to strengthening and promoting innovation in South Africa and this award supports our efforts in this regard.

The inclusion of our science centres as part of those institutions that can submit motivations for awards, is an important step toward endorsing our efforts to make science and technology a part of the daily public life of all South Africans. We hope this initiative will expand and I intend to initiate discussions with HP to explore how we can as partners use their experience to increase access to technology and link such access to excellence in education.

Excellence in education is an objective that government has decided to pursue vigorously. It is our intention to increase access to quality education, to improve the quality of teaching, to grow success in mathematics and science at schools to increase competence and access to ICTs so that our young people and teachers become confident beneficiaries of ICT.

So it is a particular pleasure to recognise and endorse initiatives that are specifically designed to help accomplish these critical objectives. The Innovation in Education Grant Initiative rewards secondary schools, colleges and universities for their innovative teaching and learning projects. It is the brainchild of HP South Africa, a company that believes that teaching excellence, combined with the right technologies, has a positive impact on student achievement. Accordingly, HP, working in conjunction with my department, recognizes innovative educators who have transformed teaching and learning through the effective use of technology as part of the HP Technology for Teaching programme.

Since 2004, the teaching programme has reached over 1000 educational institutions in 41 countries and HP has invested a total of almost $60 million. The HP Innovation in Education project was introduced to build on the successes of the HP Technology for Teaching programme.

Simply put, innovation implies introducing creative thinking to solve current challenges and devise new approaches. It means enthusiasm, inventiveness and an interest in developing answers to often complex problems. The awardees reflect these traits.

In the process of working in every corner of an increasingly globalised world, HP have clearly concluded that math, science, and innovation are essential skills for the future development of their business. And they have illustrated that the effective use of technology combined with good teaching - they call it exemplary teaching - can have a positive impact on student academic performance in these subjects.

South Africa faces a significant human capital development challenge. We need increased numbers of educated scientists, engineers and technologists. Partners who share our desire to act on these imperatives are welcome.

This is, of course, not the only effort being put into this challenge. In Michigan, and North Carolina, educators have started an experiment which teaches earth sciences to three year old children. They learn things like "air moves things"; "water has special characteristics"; "there are many kinds of rocks"; and "recycling keeps the environment clean". Each session begins with group time and a story to introduce the science concept for that session. Children are then introduced to all the possible activities for the session. As the activities are explained, materials are placed in learning centres around the room.

In Sweden, young people seem to be more sceptical of scientific and technological developments than adults. They also have less "respect" for science and feel more strongly that science must be useful. In-depth interviews were conducted and showed that many Swedish children and young people have stereotypical attitudes towards researchers - at least when they draw pictures or talk about what a researcher "is" or "is like." Worryingly, half as many young people as people over thirty think that only geniuses can become researchers.

In the United Kingdom the British Association for the Advancement of Science, stated that UK results from governmental studies of public attitudes towards science are similar to the Swedish findings. Most young people are satisfied with the progress of science but they are not convinced that science is necessary or is something for them.

This increasing indifference to science, at the very moment when the world's further progress is increasingly dependent on science is a difficult thing to come to grips with, but come to grips with it we must. It is part of this problem that the HP Initiative is designed to address.

It is designed to encourage teachers and professors to explore ways in which technology can have an impact on and advance students' academic performance. The ‘Grant Initiative', offers substantial grants to universities and secondary schools to support their most innovative education projects. The HP Innovation in Education Grant Initiative supports institutions in the EMEA region in launching innovative pilot projects in math, technology and science fields. HP is extremely frank about its motives and declares that its ultimate objective is to foster future leaders in the disciplines vital to HP's business.

The stated aim of the grants is to improve student achievement by using technology to redesign the learning experience. For universities the aim is to specifically enhance the engineering, computer science and IT degree programmes. It is hoped that the HP Innovations in Education Grant recipients will become a global network of secondary school educators who are designing the future of secondary education. Each grant supports programme improvement in four key areas:
• Leadership Capacity - the creation of a network of school administrators and key teachers capable of implement innovative approaches to curriculum, instruction, and the use of technology to enhance math/science learning.

• Digital Learning Environments - the use of technology to fundamentally redesign the learning experience in ways that lead to increased student engagement and academic success. These can include innovations in online learning, virtual worlds, gaming for learning, and simulations.

• The Secondary Student Design & Research Experience -makes math and science real and relevant by involving secondary students in design and research challenges that address real needs in society. This can include local and/or global service learning.

• High-Tech Career Awareness - which engages administrators, teachers, and students in ways that increase awareness and interest in high-tech college degree programmes and careers.

HP declares that it wishes to bring the full strength of its portfolio to redesign the learner experience, where teaching, learning, and technology intersect, so that learning becomes: Engaging, Personal, Collaborative, Connected - and is accessible Anywhere at Anytime.

It is a very ambitious objective, but one very well worth striving for.

Although this year's South African recipients of the HP awards were announced in May, I would like you all to know who they are, for we can all be very proud of them.

For secondary education -
• The Bokamoso Science & Technology Education Centre, Polokwane and the Bokamoso Science & Technology Education Centre HP Innovation Centre - a science centre based in the rural community of Limpopo Province

• The Mnambithi FET College, Ladysmith
• The Osizweni Education & Development Centre, Secunda
And for higher education -
• The Esayidi FET Public College, Port Shepstone
• The University of Fort Hare, Alice; and
• The University of the Western Cape in Bellville
•
I congratulate all of you on your innovative thinking and trust you will put your award to good use.

The 50 EMEA Innovation in Education Grant recipients have been invited to attend the worldwide 2010 HP Innovations in Education Worldwide Summit, to be held in San Francisco from 22nd-24th February 2010. As part of the 2009 HP Innovations in Education Grant, HP has funded the International Society for Technology in Education to host an education summit for grant recipients from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the United States. This funding will cover the travel, lodging, and participation of one representative from each project team.

The FY09 Innovation in Education Grant package includes state of the art HP technology, a cash grant to support the realisation of the rewarded project as well as the attendance at this global education conference.

In another equally important initiative, HP has recognised that African and Middle Eastern countries have been struggling to cope with the exodus of students, academics and professionals. HP has been working closely with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organisation- UNESCO - to reverse this effect and to create a positive Brain Gain. HP believes that it is in a unique position to help, and since 2003 it has partnered with UNESCO to counter the brain drain, initially in southeast Europe, and now in Africa.

I congratulate the winners of these awards once again, and challenge other schools and universities to put their thinking caps on, and to show us what they can do to excite young people and to motivate them into making a life in the sciences. And I also congratulate HP, for setting an outstanding example of private sector contribution to change and development.

Thank you.