STRELITZIA Secondary School’s aim is firmly on being ahead of the curve in leveraging technology in providing holistic and relevant education to its learners. On January 29 the school marked the grand opening of the Golden Pond Digital Maths and Science Centre.

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The project cost R4 million, half of which went towards the construction of the facility and the other half towards the equipment. It was sponsored by metal and minerals processing company, Golden Pond 67.

Deputy principal of the school, and the project’s convenor, Ashri Rupee, explained that the turning of the sod event took place two years ago, to mark the beginning of construction.

“Here, we have 45 state of the art Lenovo Ideapads, which are all internet connected. This resource centre is going to be used to enhance the mathematics and physical science experience for our learners. They will be able to do simulations, be able to access videos, and when we have our interventions – extra classes that we normally do – this is where we are going to bring the learners. The idea behind it is to close the digital divide and encourage them to be more tech-savvy,” said Rupee.

She added that the project’s sponsors, Golden Pond 67, headed by Kobus van den Bergh, Sanjeev Debipersadh and Yolanda Niharoo, were instrumental in the sponsorship and previously worked with the school on its science laboratory and science centre.

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The school’s principal, Mokesh Harichan, proudly stated that while the school’s matric pass rate for mathematics and physics were in the region of about 30-40% in 2023, that figure has jumped to nearly 60%, demonstrating drastic improvements in spite of the number of learners increasing for both subjects.

Harichan said, “The intention behind the digital science centre is to improve the results for maths and science across the board. It is expected to increase the percentage pass rate, better the symbols, garner more learners to engage in mathematics and physics because of the job opportunities in those fields. Coding and robotics will also be introduced through the centre, as that is the way the world is moving.”

One of the project’s spearheads, Van den Bergh, along with his Golden Pond 67 colleagues, were given a tour of the science centres, and the school’s learners performed demonstrations of the work they do.

Van den Bergh explained that in 2012, the science teacher at the time, who taught Debipersadh, met him one day and discussed the need for a dedicated lecture hall for science. Golden Pond became involved and this was built and equipped around 2013. This in turn brought about the realisation that the school’s  laboratory facility was also not up to standard and that was also equipped, during the second phase of sponsorship.

“The third phase came when we realised that due to socio-economic constraints in the vicinity, and the Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated, we found that access to the digital platform was of critical importance in the modern world for learners to optimise their performance. The digital science centre is there to empower learners to perform optimally – to realise their potential, and to help teachers help the learners obtain it,” explained Van den Bergh.

The ribbon was officially cut by guest of honour, Umlazi District director, Busi Mahlambi, along with Van den Bergh.

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