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The South African physics community is eager and willing to help support the country's schools with regard to science education. "Our community wants to see this country working!" South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) president Professor Irvy "Igle" Gledhill told Engineering News Online.
"We really have to offer this kind of support, and also assist schools, when invited," she affirmed. "And this is happening."
She pointed out that knowledge of physics (at both school and undergraduate level) is important for a wide variety of professions and disciplines, including engineering and health. The awareness of the need at school level comes from problems being encountered in educating undergraduate students in physics.
"This is a main concern of heads of physics departments at the universities in the country," she reported. "The SAIP helped out by reviewing the undergraduate situation last year." This review was conducted by a group of experts, including 2001 Nobel Physics Prize winner Professor Carl Wieman.
"One of the main observations was that South African students are hampered by not being prepared to enter first year at university," stated Gledhill. "This is a long-standing problem, but the scale has become much greater and it's a rising problem."
Of course, there are excellent students who will succeed in their courses. But action is needed to help the others.
Part of the support the SAIP can offer to schools is career guidance. This can be done by means of brochures, other sources of information and identifying exemplars (role models) for the pupils. "We have an especial focus on young women and their career choices," she pointed out.