Sasol Foundation handed over the 10th Mobile Science Laboratory to the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown on the 30th January 2020. The custom-designed vehicles are used to transport science apparatus and chemicals to schools in various parts of the country in order to conduct hands-on practical work with teachers and learners in their classrooms. Each mobile lab can serve up to 30 schools per year when utilized to its fullest potential.
According to the National Science and Technology Forum, university graduation’s in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related courses are at a low of 20% In South Africa. “For this reason, Sasol as a credible stakeholder partner to government, believes in working collaboratively with all our other stakeholders to find solutions to address the challenges and bottlenecks in our education system to enable economic growth,” said Cindy Mogotsi, Senior Vice President: Corporate Affairs at Sasol.
Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi delivered the keynote speech where he highlighted that “The ‘one of a kind’ Mobile Science laboratories do not only provide apparatus for underprivileged schools but they also respond to the challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution,”.
Sci-Bono Discovery Centre is affiliated with the Gauteng Department of Education and offers a broad programme of science and technology-related events, activities and programmes for both the general public and the school community. To date, this partnership model has been working smoothly, with schools served by the facility reporting significant improvement in the performance of learners in science-related subjects.
“We are very happy about today’s donation and we believe that it will benefit many schools. As Sci-bono, we have also adopted the National Development Plan vision which makes sure that we are building strong and credible institutions, added Abbey Witbooi, Chairperson of Sci-Bono
