Schools in Alexandra, most of which do not have laboratory facilities of their own, have been invited to make use of the newly commissioned state-of-the-art lab at Sci-Bono.
This was a call from the acting CEO of the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Fikile Mapela, who said schools from disadvantaged communities were more than welcome to use the centre to enhance the study and understanding of the Stem subjects [science, technology, engineering and maths] not just for their pupils, but the teachers of those subjects as well.
Mapela was speaking to Alex News in an interview soon after the official opening of the Sangari Life Sciences Laboratory, which is sponsored by Sangari South Africa, a Kyalami-based company that is part of the Sangari Group of companies, worldwide, that specialise in the provision of educational solutions in the field of science, technology and engineering.
“This lab is not a decorative artifact or one which we shall use to brag about to people… It’s a facility that must be put to maximum use by schools around Gauteng and beyond to enhance their knowledge and understanding of Stem subjects.
“We built it purely to help educators and their children to appreciate Stem subjects and to have hands-on experiments and improve the quality of learning and understanding. I will be the happiest person if I can get some schools coming from Alexandra, which is one of our disadvantaged urban nodes in the country,” Mapela said.
The lab was built in 2011 and completed in 2013 but lay dormant for over a year until Sangari came to the rescue and fully equipped it with all the required equipment and necessities to enable pupils and their teachers to carry out experiments.
Sangari South Africa’s Bez Sangari said before the official opening of the centre, more than 6 500 children had visited the centre since January this year when it started operating. This attests to the fact that the investment was indeed bearing fruit.
“I am confident the donation of equipment to the lab and its sponsorship by Sangari will go a long way to [improving and encouraging] our children and schools to take up the much-dreaded science subjects. If our children can have hands-on experiments of the theoretical lessons they have been having in their classes, they will begin to love what they do and this will translate to a love of the Stem subjects as well,” Sangari said.
He added that his company, which celebrates 21 years in South Africa this year, has developed a whole range of products that help improve the teaching of these subjects, and which helps the pupils understand, appreciate and love these subjects. He hopes a love of these subjects will help solve the skills shortage in the country.
Sangari said the company equipped the lab on a budget of a little under R1 million and will continue to support it with consumables for many years to come. They also assist other science centres in the country that they have a relationship with.
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