Central University of Technology men’s soccer team qualified for the 2023 Varsity Football Tournament held in Secunda, Mpumalanga, from 05 to 09 December 2023. The team secured a spot in the top 8 after winning 1 – 0 against the University of Venda at the University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament. 

The annual Varsity Football Tournament is one of the seven sports in the Varsity Sports series. It involves the top football-playing universities in the country, which belong to the University Sports Company. The tournament is run by Varsity Sports South Africa and is endorsed by the South African Football Association and University Sport South Africa.

The CUT ladies’ soccer team also participated in the tournament but unfortunately did not make it after losing 3 – 4 to the University of KwaZulu Natal.

A big congratulations to the CUT gents for making it this far!

CUT

THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has officially opened a portal for accommodation providers to register their properties for NSFAS beneficiaries.

Once signed in, accommodation providers will be able to list their properties on the NSFAS database. They simply have to provide names, locations and images.

NSFAS will then contact these providers and send out a “panel of experts” to accredit and grade the properties to make sure they are suitable for student living.

Both students and interested accommodation providers can register on this portal. Both parties are required to choose an educational institution, like the University of Johannesburg or the University of Pretoria.

After the accreditation process is completed, the registered accommodation will become available for students who are beneficiaries.

If you’re looking to provide a residence for students, now is the time to register with NSFAS. By the fact that you have to choose an educational institution, no doubt proximity to the university or college will be a factor that is graded.

According to some users on Twitter, the portal seems to not be working past the second page as of the time of writing, seemingly minutes after the portal was launched.

The opening of the portal coincides with the conclusion of the 2022 matric exams. Hundreds of thousands of matriculants will be looking to embark on their journeys into tertiary education, with many seeking bursary opportunities, including NSFAS.

Prospective students could apply for educational financial aid through the scheme from September 2022, but like many other bursary options, there are stringent criteria in place.

These include:

“You are SASSA grant recipients or

Your combined household income is not more than R350 000 per year or

If you are a person living with a disability, your combined household income should not be more than R600 000 per year or

If you are a student who began their university studies before 2018 and their household income is not more than R122 000 per year.”

NSFAS has also made students aware that scammers are actively pretending to be the aid scheme in order to steal financial information and money.

AGENCY

South Africa is looking to advance basic and computational science development in the country, says higher education, science and innovation minister Dr Blade Nzimande.

This, after SA’s National Institute of Theoretical Physics (NITheCS) and Italy’s Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the sidelines of the recently-held World Science Forum in Cape Town.

Computational science, also known as scientific computing or scientific computation, is described as the use of computers to understand and solve science and engineering problems.

The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) says the agreement will see the institutes work together on a range of initiatives, including the development of theoretical and computational research and education in SA, as well as the exchange of scientists and students between the countries.

In a statement, the DSI says professor Francesco Petruccione, director of the NITheCS, signed the agreement together with professor Atish Dabholkar, ICTP director, in the presence of Nzimande.

“The partnership will not only provide important support for basic science in South Africa, but also serve as a model for future international collaborations in the field,” notes Nzimande.

“ICTP recognises the importance of building a solid foundation of basic science for the advancement of technology and innovation,” comments Dabholkar. “ICTP is ideally positioned to assist African efforts in scientific computing to address the challenges that are at the core of a sustainable future for humanity.”

Dabholkar further notes the agreement is in line with ICTP’s goal to strengthen its programmes in the field of computational sciences through the establishment of an international consortium on scientific computing.

South Africa’s NITheCS provides a platform for research, training and engagement in theoretical physics, astronomy and astrophysics, data science, mathematics, statistics, quantitative finance, bioinformatics and quantitative biology, Earth systems modelling and climate change modelling.

Founded in 1964, the ICTP seeks to drive global efforts to advance scientific expertise in developing countries, and advances international cooperation through science.

Petruccione concludes that the MOU is a step forward in the relationship between ICTP and NITheCS. “It will have a positive impact on the development of theoretical and computational sciences in South Africa and Africa.”

-ITWeb

When the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) launched the Decade of the Artisan campaign in 2014, Nelisiwe Duba, who was in high school at the time, could not believe her luck as she immediately saw this as not only her chance to pursue a career in the trades, but to become a successful female artisan entrepreneur.

Since childhood, the 24-year-old from Ermelo, Mpumalanga, finds joy in using her own hands to fix and create things. It therefore is not surprising that eight years after the launch of the Decade of the Artisan, Duba is now a qualified artisan after completing a Mechanical Fitting and Turning Course in the Manufacturing and Construction of Components.

The Decade of the Artisan campaign aims to produce 30 000 artisans per year by 2030, as indicated in government’s National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 and the White Paper for Post School Education and Training (PSET).

Duba was among the artisans who were awarded certificates at the Artisans Graduation Ceremony for the Centres of Specialisation (CoS), held in Ekurhuleni on 29 November 2022.

The graduation ceremony, which was addressed by Higher Education and Training Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, saw over 350 artisans from Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges awarded certificates after successfully completed their studies in various fields.

An elated Duba, who enrolled at Sedibeng TVET College in Vereeniging said she decided to pursue an artisanal career because she is a very creative and open-minded individual.

“Fitting and turning is a great fit for someone who has a creative side, hence I chose this field. While in high school, I was doing Mathematics and Physical Science, which helped me to meet the requirements needed at the college.”

Duba believes that artisanal careers can help people, especially the youth, to open their own businesses.

“As artisans, we are people who are highly skilled with our hands. Job opportunities are getting scarce in our country, an artisanal career can help you open your own business and create job opportunities for the youth of South Africa.”

She encouraged young people to consider artisanal careers because “being an artisan allows you to be independent”.

“With funding, you have the skills to start your own thing besides working for someone else. One can do special trades or courses like welding, electrical and plumbing [amongst others],” Duba said.

Now that she has completed her studies, an optimistic Duba says the future looks bright for her.

“I am currently looking for employment, where I can apply the skills I acquired over the three-year period as an apprentice. The goal is to one day open a training centre or have a fitting and turning workshop.

“Also, winning the skills competition that was recently hosted by Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) In Cape Town, where I won a big toolbox, has been eye opening in terms of opening my own workshop.”  

Concern over the number of artisans produced by SA

Addressing the recently held graduation ceremony, Nzimande emphasised the need to drastically increase the number of qualified artisans produced per year in order to realise the country’s National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 target.

Nzimande noted a decline in the total number of learners who entered the artisanal learning programme, with 10 302 learners having entered the programme during the 2020/21 financial year, reflecting a 36.5% (5 916) decline compared with the 2019/20 financial year.

According to the Minister, South Africa needs at least 60% of school leavers to pursue artisanal training to meet the country’s demand for scarce skills. 

The country is currently producing on average 20 000 qualified artisans per year.

“We honestly need to do more to encourage school leavers to pursue technical trades, as the government expands technical and vocational education. This is amongst the reasons there is a continuous need for suitably qualified artisans to sustain industries and support economic growth in South Africa,” the Minister said.

-SA GOV

The FUTURE (Fibre optic sensing and UAV-platform techniques for innovative mineral exploration) Project is funded by a consortium of European-South African governmental agencies for the next two years and sees Wits step up as project lead. It pulls together collaborators from the University of Venda, Uppsala University in Sweden, Politecnico di Torino in Italy as well as Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) and French company Sercel. Stakeholders such as Nordic Iron Ore in Sweden and Gold Fields in South Africa are also partners and benefit from the outcome of the solutions.  

In this latest phase of the project, the global team of 22 researchers and scientists gathered in South Africa to set up an array of 400 wireless sensors for active and passive recording at Gold Fields’ South Deep Mine operations in Westonaria, which is among the world’s deepest gold mines.

The project has been a breakthrough in synchronising a range of seismic testing on a working mine and also to meet the aims of being cost effective and environmentally sensitive in its research footprint.   

Professor Musa Manzi from Wits School of Geosciences, co-ordinator of the FUTURE project, says: “For the first time we’re deploying wireless sensors on the surface as well as sensors in mine tunnels and in boreholes in such a scale. This testing is also all being done in on an active production mine at a depth of about three km, that’s so remarkable. “

“We have continuous recording on surface and we’re testing a prototype GPS-time system developed under the Smart Exploration Project that can be used inside a mine tunnel or GPS-denied environment. So, we are synchronising surface sensors with tunnel sensors and also using fibre optic sensing cables so that we have both passive and active seismic recordings to map the ore body and complex geological structures ahead of the currently mined-out area.”

Manzi says extending the life of mines and achieving sustainable extraction of critical metals at deeper levels are the next direction for modern mining. But he says it will call for greater emphasis on technology and innovation for safer ways to mine, mitigating risks, ensuring less impact on the environment and being able to keep costs down.

Their testing at South Deep mine has made use of a mini mobile seismic vibration machines that causes less damage to the environment but is powerful enough to send vibrations three kilometres underground to be recorded and analysed as sound waves. He adds that having more comprehensive seismic data means better analysis and mapping. In turn, it means more accurate identification of viable ore bodies and being able to mitigate risks associated with deep mining such as mining-induced seismicity.

For Manzi and his European colleagues this project has been 18 months in the making. It successfully merges multiple research targets at this one site in the spirit of deepening scientific understanding, knowledge sharing and skills transfer especially between the cohort of up and coming young scientists from South Africa, Sweden and Italy.

Manzi adds: “One of the key strengths of this project is that we have a lot of young professionals – postdocs, PhD and MSc students. It’s important for them to be exposed to this level of scientific research and also to be able to start creating their networks with other young people from different countries, because in the next five or 10 years they will be developing their own projects and technologies that can enhance the future of sustainable mining and mineral exploration for the next generations.”

Geophysicist Professor Valentina Socco at Politecnico di Torino in Italy is one of lead researchers and partner on the FUTURE project. On this project she has focused on modelling and analysing guided seismic waves in the South Deep mining tunnels. Socco says guided wave records can be processed to generate images that give geophysicists better understanding of the properties of the materials and minerals that lie behind the tunnel walls.

“It means that one can get closer to the target exploiting existing mine infrastructure – like the established tunnels – more effectively,” she says.  

Socco says the research from the FUTURE project has potential to inform how Italian mining can be revived after a downturn for close to a century already. It needs to make a comeback that using cleaner and smarter technologies for exploration.

She adds: “South Africa has a unique geology so it’s a very important opportunity for us to be able to work on a pilot project at the depths of South Deep mine because in Italy, we don’t have such operations.

“With the FUTURE project we can work with colleagues to integrate different approaches to improve our global capability.”

For Professor Alireza Malehmir from Uppsala University in Sweden, he and Manzi have enjoyed years of collaboration, testament to how universities can forge stronger partnerships for shared knowledge building. He and his students under the FUTURE project banner have focused on using fibre optic seismic sensing for collecting big data sets for processing and mathematical modelling.

Malehmir says the data from seismic testing in South Africa has the potential to enhance Sweden’s ability to find mineral resources in hardrock environments and to be able to apply the techniques for “upscaling and for commercial surveys”. Future applications could also include the likes of identifying sites of carbon capture and storage, an essential component in adapting to a world facing a climate emergency. Opportunities are tremendous if realised.”

Malehmir adds that the success of the FUTURE project in this phase of the testing lays stronger foundations for long-term collaborative research that will impact industry positively. But he says the practical experience has had great value in sharpening different skillsets for the students.

“Students taking part in this project have been able to have hands-on learning and to work with modern equipment directly. They’ve also been able to understand and see how data they use are collected. Importantly, they’ve also learnt to develop their managerial skills in managing a big project like this and understanding what it takes to pull together so many different elements.“

“It is a different kind of challenge but it allows them to also think like managers, like entrepreneurs, and to become people who note problems and find solutions,” he says.

The Swedish, Italian and French teams return to the home countries in the middle of December but the next in-the-field phase of the FUTURE project will resume with more active testing in the first quarter of 2023 in South Africa.

-Wits University

IN a bid to empower youth and ensure that they are equipped to participate meaningfully in the digital economy, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has aggressively embarked on the journey to drive the province as one of the technology hubs of the country.

Dube-Ncube attended the second day of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Skills and Technology Development Bootcamp held on Wednesday at the Archie Gumede Conference Centre in Mayville.

The two-day bootcamp saw 280 learners, including eight inmates from Westville Correctional Services Centre, being trained in various skills, including cyber security, data analytics, robotics, coding, broadband and e-sporting.

Since assuming office in August, Dube-Ncube has prioritised the implementation of the Connected Smart Province Project, as part of accelerating the digital revolution and has aggressively embarked on the journey to catapult KwaZulu-Natal as one of the country’s technology hubs.

Speaking to the youth at the bootcamp, the Premier said the provincial government wants to ensure that the province moves at the required pace in terms of implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution as the new frontier of economic growth and the pillar on which industries of the future will be built.

“Our view remains that if we let the opportunities brought about by the 4IR miss us, we risk putting the future of our next generation into bleakness. This is a reality we can no longer postpone because it will have dire consequences for our development prospects.

“The sky is not the limit for the youth in our province hence we are creating an enabling environment for them to have the skills set and entrepreneurial acumen to be part of the multi-trillion dollar digital economy,” Dube-Ncube said.

She added that the provincial government is now rolling out bootcamps in all the districts where they are fast-tracking skills and technology development in the 4IR space among young people.

“We want the young people gathered here today to help create smart solutions to solve daily challenges such as using smart technology to find missing bodies that were washed away by the floods in April this year,” Dube-Ncube said.

The first 4IR bootcamp, which was held at the Durban Exhibition Centre in November benefitted over 450 young people.

Mobile digital skills lab

Meanwhile, as part of putting the province on the 4IR digital path, the Premier recently opened a Mobile Digital Skills Lab in Pietermaritzburg, which is being used to train young people in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics.

The Premier said the programme will be rolled-out to all the districts in the province.

She said 20 young people are currently on training, with 75 more being recruited for laptop and cellphone repairs, so that they can be empowered to open their own businesses.

Dube-Ncube firmly believes that the Fourth Industrial Revolution must contribute towards growing the provincial economy.

“For this to become a reality, the province is investing in advanced Information Technology systems and infrastructure to benefit all citizens, especially rural and township communities. 

– SA GOV

Chinese scientists say they have introduced a human brain gene into mice, which resulted in improved learning and memory skills in behavioural tests.

The study could provide insight into how the brain develops and potentially into treatment for intellectual disability, according to the research team from the State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology in Beijing.

Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Discovery on November 22.

The team, led by Professor Jiao Jianwei, said they had been looking at the connection between human intelligence and the structure of the brain.

They were particularly focused on the cortex – or outer layer – of the brain. It plays an important role in consciousness and is believed to contribute to higher cognitive functioning such as attention, thought, perception and episodic memory.

Its many folds have given humans and many “higher mammals” the intelligence to cope with more complex issues. The wrinkled cortex can contain billions of neurons in a limited cranial space, and these can form large-scale neural circuits that increase intelligence.

Cortical folding is regarded as key to brain development, but the molecular and cellular mechanisms of this process have remained unclear.

Jiao’s team wanted to find out more after their previous research identified the human gene SERPINA3 as a potential candidate associated with cortical expansion.

Using this human gene, they created mice using gene-editing technology. The gene successfully expressed and was translated into protein in the neural cells of the mice.

The researchers found that an overexpression of SERPINA3 protein had increased the number of neural stem cells in the animals’ brains during neural development. According to the paper, single-cell sequencing analysis of the cerebral cortex also indicated better neuron activity.

Behavioural tests – measuring spatial learning and memory – also showed enhanced cognitive skills in the genetically altered mice, with improved working memory and learning ability.

“The result shows the overexpression of SERPINA3 in mice induced cortical development and improved cognitive abilities,” Jiao said in the paper. “Further, SERPINA3 increased the number of neurons.”

The researchers noted that further research was needed but said the results of the study indicated that the human gene was linked to the formation of the cortex folds.

“Our work could provide a better understanding of human cortical folding and cognitive development. It will enrich the understanding of neocortical expansion and provide insights into possible treatments for intellectual disability,” Jiao said in the paper.

“Several questions still need to be further explored. We will provide more direct evidence in neural science to show that the improvement in cognition resulted from cortical folding. And provide a better model that describes the exact neural circuit changes in mice.”

Daily Bulletin

STAFF REPORTER|

THE Department of Basic Education has launched a probe into allegations of cheating in the recent national senior certificate exams involving more than 1 000 pupils from six provinces.

The allegations were reported to the Department of Basic Education through its WhatsApp hotline.

On Sunday, Department of Basic Education confirmed that it was investigating the allegations and that the director-general Mathanzima Mweli has approved the creation of a task team to investigate the allegations.

Departmental spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said that the subject identified in the Mpumalanga exam cheating scandal was economics.

Dozens of Mpumalanga learners are alleged to have paid teachers up to R1500 to join WhatsApp groups, where answers were posted on the platform during exam sessions.

It is alleged that in addition to posting answers on the WhatsApp groups, invigilators provided answers to pupils during toilet breaks and even passed notes to them in exam halls.

One of these WhatsApp groups was allegedly called “Road to Varsity” and provided answers to Maths and physical science exam questions.

The whistleblower claimed that over 370 grade 12 students from three Mpumalanga schools were part of the “Road to Varsity” WhatsApp group.

There are also allegations of learners using various cheating methods in Maths Literacy, Economics and English papers in Gauteng, Limpopo, the North West, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

Mhlanga told the SABC that there could be criminal charges because in recent years the department has been working with the Hawks on matters of irregularities involving exams.

“So, we are exploring all options to make sure that the punishment is severe and serves as a deterrent. If there is a Whatsapp group it means that people are coordinating within that platform. Several things could happen,” said Mhlanga.

“1. They could be asked to rewrite. 2. They could be banned for 1-3 years from writing their exams which means their lives would have to pause because of what they have done. But Umalusi would also make the final decision.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

PC vendor Lenovo SA, in partnership with the Durban University of Technology (DUT), has launched the Robogirl 2022 programme aimed at preparing young female learners for the fourth industrial revolution and beyond.

This comes amid calls to equip local youth, particularly young girls, with the skills to respond to the demands and opportunities of a technology-immersed future.

According to Lenovo, the programme will see over 120 girls from 15 schools in grades 10 and 11 from the eThekwini area − particularly from historically disadvantaged communities − being exposed to and taught coding and robotics skills.

It will also culminate in a competition between schools, which will allow the various teams to witness their peers’ innovation and different approaches to the same challenge, says the company.

Yugen Naidoo, GM of Lenovo Southern Africa, says: “Both in South Africa and indeed around the globe, men continue to outnumber women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, particularly technical fields, such as engineering and computer science.

“Lenovo is extremely passionate about upskilling women and female learners in the technology arena and helping to bridge this gender gap. We believe the most innovative solutions can’t be created without diverse perspectives, and therefore we are investing in such programmes.”

The launch comes just ahead of the new South African coding and robotics curriculum, which recognises that computer science, computer programming and languages need to be components of a basic education.

The Department of Basic Education said in August that its coding and robotics curriculum pilot in select grades is “progressing well”.

The department resumed the pilot project this year, after it was forced to halt it as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For its Robogirl 2022 programme, Lenovo is working with the DUT’s Department of Information and Technology, focusing on empowering under-represented communities with access to technology and STEM education.

Ebrahim Asmal, senior lecturer at DUT’s Department of Information Technology and programme coordinator, comments: “There is a gender disparity in the STEM workforce, as well as at higher educationacross the globe. Decreasing the gender disparity in STEM fields will provide more opportunity for women to generate fair income, as well as encourage professional and productive environments for women.

“Not only this, but the engineering industry can also tangibly benefit from an increase in gender and racial diversity because a workforce made up of varying genders and minorities creates team dynamics conducive for better problem-solving, produces better overall business management, and reflects today’s increasingly differentiated customer base, all of which leads to improved business performance.”

Naidoo adds: “At Lenovo, with programmes like Robogirl 2022 and others, we aim to play our part in helping to address this gender disparity, and let young girls and women see for themselves the possibilities of entering the IT space as a career and be empowered to enter the jobs of the future.

“We look forward to seeing the short-term and indeed longer-term positive results of our investment in Robogirl 2022 and wish the Durban University of Technology and all the learners on the programme every success.”

FOOTBAL for schools in Africa is kicking off, again. FIFA’s football youth development programme is underway in Ivory Coast, the first West African country to host it.

The project was initially launched in 2019 but had to be paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was launched just before World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

“The school’s football gives us human development, gender development, because it is for girls and boys,” says football coach Adelaide Koudougnon.

Coming back with a budget of $100 million from FIFA, the programme aims to get footballs to 700 million elementary school children, almost half of the world’s children aged between 4 and 14.

“The Ivory Coast is the first country in West Africa to launch Football for Schools, and the fifth in the CAF region, after Mauritania, Djibouti, South Africa and Malawi,” says Fatimata Sow Sidibe, director of Football for Schools.

“With the launch of the Football for Schools programme, FIFA has accompanied the FIF (Ivorian Football Federation), and the Ministry of National Education, with the delivery of about 27,000 balls and the launch of the Football for Schools app in French.”

The goal is to reach children in the poorest or most remote corners of the world.

India alone requires one million balls, which will likely have to travel the length and breadth of the country by road to reach children at around 10,000 schools.

In total, eleven million Adidas footballs will be sent to tens of thousands of schools. Schools will also get access to training via a free smartphone app.

Those involved with the project say that changes the game because it will allow any teacher to coach with the help of dozens of practice sessions designed for children.

And it may help find the next generation of talented stars.

FIFA believes there’s more than half a billion willing young children out there who still don’t have enough contact with the world’s most popular game.

“What brings me to sports is when I watch the professionals playing, for example, Sadio Mane who is my idol and Lionel Messi, who does his dribbling, that encourages me, that encourages me to play better football,” says student and football fan Jean Pierre Ano Kouadja.

africanews