Bloodhound inspires new generation of engineers and technicians
Kimberley- A team from the Department of Education embarked on a trip to the UK as part of the Bloodhound Project. This is an engineering adventure that offers an opportunity to engage in iconic, cutting edge engineering challenges.
The team, made up of Bloodhound Education Programme Manager and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects specialists, visited Bristol to attend training and to gain clarity on the implementation of the Web-based Bloodhound Education Programme to be introduced into the Northern Cape Schools and later the rest of South Africa.
The training covered the motivation of the upcoming generation of new engineers, technicians and doctors. This motivation is to take place with learners between the ages of six and fourteen years, where learners are most impressionable.
The Bloodhound Experience aims to not only instil a culture of teaching and learning in schools, but also to inspire a love for the STEM subjects.
The Education programme is currently being translated into Afrikaans by appropriately qualified persons selected by the NCDOE. The date proposed to launch the programme, fully translated, is
Although the programme covers all ages of learners (Grades 1 to 12) and is offered free to schools, it targets learners aged between 9 and 13 years where inspiration in the classroom is more likely to have an impact over their future career choices. The programme promotes interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM Subjects) and aims to create a high technological and innovative open data research platform which will enable the sharing of all data on a worldwide platform.
The Bloodhound Project will increase the number of learners taking the STEM subjects.