After 5 years of building the Anton Lembede Mathematics, Sciences and Technology Academy, the state-of-the-art school is finally ready to accept Grade 8 applications. The R252 million infrastructure has 20 classrooms that can accommodate up to 600 learners.
The academy is named after the ANC and South African liberation Struggle stalwart, Anton Lembede and is situated in La Mercy, on the north coast of KZN. It has one specialist classroom, a library, three computer labs, three science labs and a medical clinic.
Student accommodation at the school consists of 10 three-storey houses. Each room can take up to six students and includes personal workstations as well as internet connectivity.
Lessons range from computer applications, information technology and life skills to leadership, innovation and visual arts and according to KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, a robotics curriculum is going to be added as well.
“We are sure that this school is an important building block in realising the vision of a KwaZulu-Natal that leads in science, technology, as well as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is a school that will contribute to expanding the frontiers of freedom and development and contribute to positioning our province as the centre and science and innovation,” said Zikalala.
According to the Department of Education’s prospectus, the remaining grades will be phased in, with matric learners expected to resume classes by 2025. It will cost R42,400 per student to study at the academy for 2021. The annual fees cover tuition costs, student accommodation, uniform, security, electricity and water.
On the other hand, The Department of Education will offer bursaries to deserving students who cannot afford the fees.
KZN MEC for Education, Kwazi Mshengu said the bursaries would be awarded to those children who come from low-income families in rural communities and cannot afford the quality of education that the Department of Education provides.
“The department didn’t want education to become a commodity enjoyed only by those who can afford it; rather, every child in the province should be given the same level of opportunities in education,” concluded Mshengu.