Research suggests that the difficulties faced within maths and science education in South Africa, including declining enrolment at high school level, shortcomings in science teaching, low graduate numbers and thus eligibility for tertiary education, could become one of the most significant obstacles to advancement and economic empowerment for the country. According to a Centre for Development and Enterprise report, published in 2010, only 33 734 students passed science at the 50% level in 2008 but that an additional 27 516 students could have passed at this level should they have enrolled in the subject.The same report suggests that student interest in science at high school is a significant concern and argues for a campaign to encourage students to take science in grades 9,10 and 11 to improve enrolment numbers in the short to medium term.
CMT has committed to producing a wide reaching communication campaign that aims to both excite high school students about the impact science has on every aspect of our lives and to provide an additional education resource for high schools that are under-resourced for teaching science curriculum. The campaign, with the working title ‘Y?’, aims to convey a joy for science with an understanding of how it works and will promote the empowerment that understanding scientific principles brings.
At the centre of this campaign will be a television series, each episode of which will be built around a specific question and the associated scientific principles. The content of the series will be informed by the Physical Science and Biology high school curriculums but will not be restricted to only this material. Along with a qualified presenter, in each episode a group of high school learners will conduct an experiment to explore the scientific principles of the episode while learning more about the daily applications of related science. Episodes will also feature a career insert explaining how the principle under investigation can be applied in the workplace. This is to demonstrate how science is not simply a subject for scientists, but how many careers use the applied results of scientific work on a daily basis with far reaching consequences for everyday life and culture.