Maths boot camp

On 13 and 14 April the Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research (CIDER) and the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCT’s School of Public Health and Family Medicine (SPHFM) hosted a maths boot camp for 40 grade 11 learners from Gugulethu’s Fezeka High School.

During the camp, learners were exposed – many for the first time – to the university environment. They were helped with revising their syllabus to prepare for matric and ultimately for university entrance applications.

According to the organisers, “Our motivation is that we do research in the community, and we need to give back with the tools we have access to. We ourselves are teachers and researchers with some maths skills, and we want to share these with the communities where we do our research.”

CIDER and the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics worked closely with Dikakapa-Everyday Heroes, an initiative that motivates young South Africans to use education to achieve their dreams. A number of other divisions and centres in the SPHFM donated maths sets, stationery and books to support the boot camp.

If you have ideas for, would like to get involved or donate to support future boot camps, please contact Nontokozo or Tammy.