UKZN’s School of Education recently hosted the 2018 Minquiz KZN Competition – an annual national Science and Mathematics contest for Grade 12 learners, sponsored by MINTEK.

About 110 high school learners, accompanied by their teachers, attended and participated in the written and oral competition on the Edgewood campus.

The School has for the past 18 years hosted the competition which aims to encourage interest in careers in science, engineering and technology, especially in minerals and metallurgy, and also promote awareness of their importance. Teachers took part in a seminar on Careers and Science.

UKZN academic and coordinator of the Mintek-KZN Quiz Professor Nadaraj Govender explained that participating learners wrote a preliminary multiple-choice question test individually, followed by competing as a school team during a live, on-stage oral quiz with UKZN science preservice teachers as quizmasters. The Science and Technology cluster staff helped with administration and marking of both quizzes.

‘Semi-finals are held in all nine provinces on the same day and the final is held in Johannesburg in July. Questions are in the areas of physical science, mathematics, and general knowledge in science, engineering and technology, and are in line with the National FET Curriculum,’ said Govender.

Winners of the regional competition were grouped into Gold or Platinum categories based on the school’s historical resources and results. Four finalists (two from each category) from the regional competition will represent KZN in the national finals.

Kingsway High School matric learner Mr Shaun Schoeman was both surprised and ecstatic to be the winner of the written quiz in the Platinum category. ‘It was an unexpected win but I am glad I won and made my school proud. I went over past year papers, worked hard and gave it my best. I would advise other learners to go for it. Don’t doubt yourself. Preparation is key.’

His science teacher Mr Rajesh Sewpershad is confident that his team will do well at the finals. ‘We are going to give it our best. This regional win was a team effort and now we know to work harder to beat other competing schools. We’re bringing it home to KZN, just like last year’s winners.’

The Gold category winner of the written quiz was Yadhav Noubouth of Mountview Secondary.