The Durban University of Technology, in conjunction with the Moses Kotane Institute (MKI), enforced their drive to persuade pupils to take up careers in the engineering field through an annual Robotics Competition which was held on Friday last week (28 November 2014).

The Lego Robotics Competition – which took place at the DUT Hotel School – seeks to promote and foster an interest and concept of Mathematics, programming and logic building in high school pupils.

According to Dennis Memela, Programmes Manager at Moses Kotane Institute, this initiative is one of many ways that the Institute uses to persuade pupils to do Mathematics and Science. “What MKI discovered through its research was that there was a dire need to excite students about learning Maths, Science and Biology, and it is then that we approached DUT to form a partnership,” said Memela.

The competition was first initiated by DUT in 2010, and again in 2012. MKI approached DUT earlier this year to form a three-year partnership. Colin Thakur, Director of the KZN e-Skills CoLab at DUT said that the University was pleased with the partnership between DUT and MKI. “We had first initiated the programme in 2010 and had it again in 2012.

However, due to a shortage of funds and the costs aligned with the competition, we were forced to pause it a bit,” said Thakur.
Robotics is a programme geared towards offering learners a fun and interactive package that will assist them to think strategically. The Robotics kit comes with Lego components which, when put together, result in the construction of a robot which is then programmed to function.

Through this project initiated by the KZN e-Skills CoLab with MKI, 30 teachers were trained, with one (teacher) selected from each of the 30 technical schools in KwaZulu-Natal. Additionally, four pupils from each school from grades 10 to 12 were selected to represent their schools during the competition. A total number of 120 pupils were expected to participate in the competition.

Zet Zondi, Executive Manager for Academics at MKI said this was another way that the institution (MKI) was ensuring a greater interest in Mathematics and Science. “In order to build interest in the fields that require Mathematics, Science and Biology, we at MKI have committed ourselves to making sure that we play our role in ensuring that these subjects are taught properly and this programme is another way of assuring this,” he said.

The schools that participated are Amatshezulu, Siyabonga, Elangeni, Esizibeni, Sibusisiwe, Edendale Technical, KwamaKhutha, Mlokothwa, Phoenix and Chief Ngonyama high schools.

The winners of the competition will be selected and announced in 2015.

-Noxolo Memela

Pictured: Pupils from Edendale Technical School share their robotics ideas with DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ahmed Bawa.