In March 2020 SA faced an unprecedented challenge as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic. With the imposition of a nationwide lockdown, almost every human endeavour switched from being physical to virtual. For many the conversion was effortless. For others, however, the switch to a predominantly digital world only served to further deepen prevailing divides.
Promaths first began in Dobsonville, Soweto, 15 years ago and to date about 8,000 pupils have been through the programme. And despite the unprecedented challenges in 2020, the programme recorded 383 distinctions in maths and 395 distinctions in physical science — respectively a 5% and 6% contribution to the total number of national distinctions.
There are university bursary recipients with whom I engage that are at pains to remind me how a university campus provides a much-needed escape from spaces that are wholly inconducive to their academic aspirations. Given the levels of unequal access to resources, online learning and teaching from home is easier said than done. With the various challenges, online education in its current form, and with its ancillary dependencies, is not the silver bullet we would like it to be. We therefore cannot allow last year’s experience to be lost to the passing of time. Indeed, the challenges faced by a digitally handicapped education system in 2020 should present the nation with an opportunity.