Lessons from abroad

A Grade 5 teacher at Lyndhurst Primary School is determined to inspire his learners to follow careers in science.

Sive Nkankula returned from Huntsville, Alabama in the United States of America on 13 July and recalled how the trip had motivated him to contribute more to the local education fraternity.

The natural science teacher was selected to represent South Africa in the global arena through the Gauteng Department of Education Aviation Science Programme launched last year, as reported in the North Eastern Tribune article One giant leap for sciences [Week ending 19 July]. He was one of the four teachers who attended a seven-day educational camp in the US Space and Rocket Centre.

The camp was expected to help educators acquire a better insight into the aviation space. The department launched the programme in partnership with global fortune 100 software-industrial company Honeywell Africa.

At the time of the launch, over 400 Grade 5 learners from Lyndhurst, Bovet, Halfway House, Mitaketa and Nokuphila primary schools were invited to be part of the programme which aimed to teach learners the fundamentals of aviation.

“The department selected our school and we had a week to introduce our learners to the programme,” he said.

Following a week of introduction to the programme for the learners, Nkankula was asked to write a report about the initiative.

He said he didn’t know that his report would interest the department which subsequently visited his school. “They told us they will present our report to Honeywell.”

Since he learnt and acquired the new knowledge about science and aviation in the USA, Nkankula said he would use the lessons from abroad to inspire the next generation of scientists.

“Their methods of teaching and learning and the manner they use examples are way more advanced and I have acquired that skill which will help me introduce fascinating methods of learning to our learners,” Nkankula concluded.

Details: Lyndhurst Primary School 011 440 4913.