School of Education hosts Minquiz Science and Maths Competition

BY: .

The School of Education recently hosted the Minquiz Provincial Competition, an annual national Science competition for Grade 12 learners. Learners from 37 schools across KwaZulu-Natal were accompanied by their teachers to compete in the event on the Edgewood campus.

The School has hosted the competition for the last 16 years. The competition aims to encourage an interest in careers in science, engineering and technology, especially in minerals and metallurgy, and to promote an awareness of the importance of minerals and metallurgy to South Africa.

The competition consists of a preliminary written multiple-choice quiz which learners complete individually. The individual scores are then added to determine a school score which is used to identify the top 5 school teams in both the Gold and Platinum categories. These school teams then compete in a live, on-stage oral quiz. The questions used in both quizzes are in the fields of physical sciences, mathematics, and general knowledge in science, engineering and technology, and are in line with the National Curriculum.

Participants from Margot Fonteyn High School in Pinetown Ms Yoliswa Vilakazi said, ‘This is such a fun competition and it’s great to meet and interact with learners from other schools,’ while Mr Sanele Majozi added, ‘Competing in Minquiz builds our confidence and also prepares us to write our final matric exams. It tests our knowledge and motivates us to do well.’

UKZN academic and co-ordinator of the Quiz, Dr Nadaraj Govender said ‘Minquiz is entertaining for all involved while at the same time highlighting the importance of Mathematics and Science as foundational subjects for a career in the minerals and metallurgy industries and other sciences as well as promoting interest in science and mathematics teacher education.’

Speaking at the event, Mintek engineer Mr Jacob Tsotetsi encouraged all learners to pursue a career in science, engineering and technology. ‘Make an informed decision for your future career. If you want to be a teacher or engineer, you need to be passionate about it. Do what you love.’

The winning schools for the regional oral competition were: Star College Boys’ High (1^st), Durban Girls’ College, Maritzburg College [Platinum Category] and Adams College (1^st), Wiggens Secondary and Ogwini Comprehensive Technical High [Gold category].

The winners for the regional written competition were: Andrea Tonelli (1^st), Storm Savage (2^nd), Glenda Watt [Platinum Category] and Thoko Silindile Monica Thusi (1^st), Bahle Danisa (2^nd), Sinenhlanhla Christian Zondi [Gold Category].

The top two students from each category will now compete in the National Competition to be held on 13-14 July in Johannesburg-Mintek.

Melissa Mungroo