The Brilliants Programme for our future Innovators 2009
For Achievers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education
The quality of school education, especially in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) , is of great concern to
all South Africans, in particular the business and Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) communities. This
has been compounded by the economic recession experienced in the past year,
which resulted in insufficient research funding for SETI, impacting heavily
on the education domain. Furthermore, movements in the political arena
contributed to uncertainties at universities and schools which need to
understand and react to the new education curriculum.
The Brilliants Programme, initially known as the Education Recognition
Programme, was started by the NSTF in 2003 and is now, more than ever,
pressed to deliver on its mission to identify, recognise and nurture talent
from the school education sector and to expose these young 'Brilliants' to
the professional research environment through the Awards event. The
programme is designed to motivate talent in order to realise full potential,
encourage young talent to take up careers in SETI, assist them by providing
career guidance, and seek support through bursaries to enable them to study
further in SET.
Presentation of certificates to the learners, students, educators and school principals as follows:
Olympiad section - Mr Enver Surty, Deputy Minister of Basic Education
Grade 12 section - Prof Brenda Wingfield, Chairperson of the NSTF; Ms Jansie Niehaus, Executive Director of the NSTF and Mr Enver Surty, Deputy Minister of Basic Education. Also say here - sponsored by the Department of Basic Education
Educators - Mr Enver Surty, Deputy Minister of Basic Education
Schools - Mr Enver Surty, Deputy Minister of Basic Education. - sponsored by the Department of Basic Education.
The NSTF hosts the top achievers from the school education sector at the
Awards Gala Dinner under the following categories:
Top performers in the major Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics Competitions and Olympiads;
Top performers in Mathematics and Science in Grade 12 in 2009 -
Male and a female from each of the nine provinces; as identified by the NSTF and the nine Provincial Departments of Education;
Top educators in Mathematics, Science and Technology;
Top performing schools in Mathematics and Science; and
Two Bursaries for SETI undergraduate students, sponsored by the DTI and THRIP programme, and selected in collaboration with DST and NSTF
The 18 Top performers in the NCS Exam of 2009 are currently studying at various universities
across the country with the exception of one who will be studying at Yale University later this year. They are all pursuing SET related degrees and
five are in need of bursaries.
The passion and dedication of these achievers are captured in the words of
Piet Ndimande, one of the top matriculants: "My dream has always been to
become a professional Engineer. I enjoy working with groups of people and
from my understanding, Engineering is about groups of people coming together
to develop South Africa's infrastructure. In order to achieve this goal I
knew I had to work extremely hard. From grade 10 onwards I have worked at my
highest potential towards this one goal." He is one of the five students who
do not have sufficient funding to continue with his studies.
