The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS), which was established through a partnership with Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), has renewed its partnership with the University of Johannesburg (UJ) through the signing of a second memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday.
In 2015 the parties signed the initial MoU to bring together the foremost researchers, intellectual leaders and experts from Asia and Africa to develop innovative ways of integrating African and Asian thought and research.
UJ, together with the JIAS and NTU on Monday announced that it would provide a Saturday school intervention programme for maths and science, which will be led by a team of subject specialists and advisers in those fields.
At the signing, NTU president Professor Bertil Andersson announced his personal contribution to the high school training programme initiative.
“The commitment of Professor Anderson will ensure that participating learners from historically-disadvantaged surrounding schools will not only have access to the institute’s entire infrastructure, but also expose them to a variety of teaching skills and methods to enhance the level of learning and understanding,” JIAS director Professor Peter Vale said.
He pointed out that South Africa needed serious intervention strategies to strengthen mentorship and guidance in curriculum implementation at secondary school level, especially in grade 11.
“The training programme will not only encourage the learners to do well in matric, but will also prepare them for the challenges of higher education,” he noted.
The Mathematics and Science programme will start in the second semester of 2017.