Kopanang - Bredasdorp ready to run

Kopanang is an empowerment project using Amateur Radio as a catalyst to encourage young people to become more involved in science and technology with the ultimate aim to lead more learners into Science, Engineering and Technology careers.

De Heide Primary School in Bredasdorp, South Africa, is the first school running with the project and has lined up teachers and students to take the Radio Amateur Course.

The word "Kopanang" is a Sesotho word meaning building bridges or bringing people together and that is what Amateur Radio does, bringing people together to engage in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) activities.

De Heide Primary School is giving true meaning to Kopanang by inviting teachers from the nearby High School and five ex-matriculants to join the course. "My objective is to run a course in the evenings for the teachers and ex-matriculants and after a few months to introduce a course for learners during two afternoons a week", Headmaster Etienne Rheinicke said. "I believe that train the trainer concept will give us a much larger coverage than simply running one class".

The evening course will be conducted by Leon Korkie, ZS1MM, of the South African Radio League while the some of the teachers will run the afternoon course.

"We are planning for the evening group to write the Radio Amateur Examination in May and the learners in November," Mr Rheinicke said.

De Heide Primary School is one of 9 schools in the first phase of the Department of Communication's Kopanang project. As part of the project the Department has equipped each school with a complete amateur radio station as well as basic electronic test equipment. The Department is working with the South African Radio League, the National Body for Amateur Radio in South Africa, who will be responsible for the training of teachers and students and teach hands-on amateur radio.

"We are proud to have been selected by the Department of Communication to lead the project", SARL President Graham Hartlett said. "We have declared 2006 as Amateur Radio Youth Year with the main objective of promoting Amateur Radio to the youth as an educational as well as an enjoyable pastime activity. During the year we are planning several national events that will include activities at many schools."

Science is fun, but Amateur Radio is more fun because it includes science, engineering and technology with the added bonus that one can communicate with fellow radio amateurs, here and world-wide about one's interests.

It has been proven that by introducing amateur radio to learners in their teens, advances their interest in subjects such as maths and science and focuses them towards a career in engineering fields. Today the world's largest engineering nations also have the most radio amateurs. Japan and the USA are good examples.

Visit www.sarl.org.za a link to the full story.

Source: The South African Radio League

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