Innovation

Roboteers: Front, L-R: Inga Javu, Limise Kalolo, Mesuli Meneze and Shaun Ngubo (all Joe Slovo High School); Back, L-R: Joe Slovo High School pupils Minenthle Ngweni, Lultho Daniso, Maude Modise (director of the Shoprite Foundation), Alulutho Mnyobe, Anam Kalman, Kungawo Mkhalali, Xoliswa Mahlangu (head of digital learning and technology at Sifiso EdTech) and Lisolethu Fana

In hindsight, it was a bold vision. The Department of Basic Education, under minister Angie Motshekga, in March 2019 set out its plan to pilot a new robotics and coding curriculum. At the time, the DBE said it had developed a roadmap for the implementation of this "21st century digital skills subject" and it had a clear plan for piloting and full-scale implementation. This was also the era in which the government was seized by 4IR, and a month later, the South African Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution was officially established.

This February, DBE minister Siviwe Gwarube said robotics and coding could not be rolled out as a mandatory subject, and that it would be focusing on improving numeracy and literacy in the foundation phase. Gwarube said it was important that the limited resources available to the country’s schooling system first focused on improving learning outcomes in the foundation phase before expanding the rollout of coding and robotics as a subject. Robotics and coding is widely taught at private schools, but it’s rare to find it offered at historically disadvantaged institutions. But this doesn’t mean that the subject is not being studied.