What happens on the programme.
One week in June for Grade 9 learners. Entry level throughout, with no assumption of prior confidence in mathematics or science.
The week mixes practical activities with mathematics and science sessions pitched at Grade 9 level, and closes with a discussion of what each subject choice opens and closes at university. The aim is not to push every learner toward science. It is to make sure that the choice made in Grade 9 is an informed one rather than a default.
Every session is delivered by women from Acornhoek who are now studying science and engineering at university, several of whom came through AIST programmes themselves. For most participants it is the first time they have met a scientist from their own community.
Why Grade 9.
Grade 9 is the year South African learners choose the subject stream they will carry through to matric. A learner who drops mathematics for mathematical literacy at that point has closed the door on most science, engineering, health science and accounting degrees, usually without being told so at the time.
That decision is made at fourteen, and it is rarely revisited. STEM Girls exists in the weeks before it, rather than in the years after.
Who can apply.
Requirements
- Grade 9 in the current year
- Open to learners from any school in the Acornhoek community.
- No marks requirement
- There is no academic threshold. Interest is enough.
Practical details
- Parental consent
- A parent or guardian signs a consent form before you attend.
- Travel
- A day programme. Learners travel in each day and return home each evening.
- Cost
- There is no fee to attend.
- Places
- Thirty places a year. Apply early.
The programme in numbers.
Continuing with AIST.
STEM Girls is an entry point rather than an endpoint. Learners who take mathematics and physical science into Grade 10 are eligible for MPASS in the December of their Grade 11 year.