Rand Tutorial College wins provincials to represent Gauteng in National Schools Science Debate final
JOBURG — The competition aims to encourage young people to engage more with science and technology.
Rand Tutorial College won the South African Agency of Science and Technology Advancement (Saasta) provincial debates.
The college will now have the opportunity to represent Gauteng at the national finals on 6 October in Johannesburg.
“There are no words to describe the honour of representing Gauteng and the satisfaction of the results of hard work,” the Rand Tutorial College science debating team said in a statement.
“The information we got from the competition is mind-blowing and is of great importance. A lot has been learned through this competition, making us as learners more interested in science and technology. We now see ourselves taking over the science world by storm.”
The aim of the competition was to encourage children in grades 9 to 11 to address key issues around science and technology that are faced in their communities using constructive debates as a tool. It also gives participants the opportunity to develop research, critical thinking and information literacy skills, as well as the ability to work as a team to present logical, clear arguments.
“The National Schools Debates is a unique and valuable platform where young minds have an opportunity to debate some interesting scientific questions and to learn about the incredible science that is being done in South Africa,” said the manager of science communication at Saasta, Michael Ellis.
The Mondeor High School team, which finished third behind second-placed Crawford College Pretoria, said the provincial round of the competition involved considerable research into the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the project in which South Africa plays a leading role to build the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, and on which the debate in the provincial round was based.
“SKA? What is that? We soon found out,” said the Mondeor team in a statement. “We have learned how to improve our future through science. “We are now better skilled public speakers and have more interest in science as a career.”
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