30 Mar 2014

Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) recently held a Science Circus Africa in collaboration with the Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre.

The science circus was a pioneering outreach project intended to create fun through engaging in science exhibits, shows and teacher workshops in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Malawi.

Speaking at the event, school head for Palapye Central Primary School, Mr Judah Nkarabang, said the science show came at the right time as performance trends showed that science was one of the underperformed subjects along with mathematics across all levels at primary, junior certificate and BGCSE.

Mr Nkarabang said one of the contributing factors was that primary schools were not well equipped citing unavailability of laboratories and materials that could be used to aid in teaching of science.

He also stated that teachers at primary schools were not specialising in various subjects as a result impacting negatively on students’ performance as some teachers were not trained in teaching science.

For his part Dr Graham Walker from the Australian Nation University said in an interview that the science circus was made possible with the support from the Australian High Commission. The circus, he said was aimed at creating public awareness about science and making the subject fun to learn and teach, adding that people live with science around them as such should not be afraid to do science at school or pursue science careers.

He noted that BIUST was established solely to promote the learning of mathematics and science as such needed students with positive attitudes towards science. Angela Gaolatlhe, a standard seven pupil at Palapye Central Primary School said the workshop had helped her develop a positive attitude towards science and will impart knowledge of fellow students.

The show was later taken to engine Mall where participants shared with the public their knowledge about science and its importance to the community.

Some of the objectives of the Science circus are nourishing and nurturing the learners’ talents and creativity in science, entertain, educate, develop quality hands on experience through participation and making science and technology popular among the public. Ends