The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) on Tuesday, 6 September 2022, officially launched Dr Molefi Oliphant Maths, Science and ICT School of Specialisation with a focus on Renewable Energy and Climate Change in Bophelong, Vanderbijlpark. 

This launch was graced by the presence of the legendary Dr Molefi Oliphant. Born and raised in Bophelong, where the school is located, Dr Oliphant grew to become a prolific figure in the province’s basic education sector and played a significant role in South African soccer and community development. 

The launch was led by Gauteng HOD Edward Mosuwe alongside Gauteng Education Portfolio Committee Chairperson Matome Chiloane and other esteemed guests and officials. 

Attendees were first given a display of a smart home which had a biometric fingerprint system coded by learners at the school and augmented reality headsets. 

The smart home also contained virtual reality textbooks that can be stored on a single 3D printed object that learners scan with their smartphones and then proceed to see 3D animations of certain subject matter. 

Subsequently, learners introduced attendees to the BBC micro:bit, a pocket-sized computer that facilitates the communication between software and hardware in multiple ways. Learners used this technology to code and create a digital guitar, a water dispenser that senses when a plant has dry soil, and a physical touch game. 

Learners further exhibited a robotic car that they coded to be remote controlled via a mobile app, which they coded themselves. They also created environmentally friendly and biodegradable packaging that they designed and created themselves, and two delightful his and hers fragrances, which they chemically composed through esterification and carefully mixing other chemical compounds. 

In addition, the learners created their own calculator, which is available on every learner’s tablet, and has the capability of showing the multiples of all numbers and quiz learners about these multiples. 

Learners also created and coded an app where other learners can access past exam papers offline; and three games (Tic-Tac-Toe, Colour Memory, 2D Paint) that all learners from the school can play alone on one smartboard or with each other on two separate smartboards in their spare time. 

Dr Molefi Oliphant Maths, Science and ICT School of Specialisation is a true example of a school of the future, and it encapsulates our vision to ensure that learners to have access to a specialised, modern, relevant, dynamic and responsive curriculum that is an alternative to the traditional academic curriculum, and prioritises critical skill areas. 

The GDE is proud to have 20 such schools across the province in which learners are immersed in fields such as Engineering; Commerce and Entrepreneurship; Maths, Science and ICT; Sports; and Performing and Creative Arts.